What happens when you come to the end of something in your life? Do you create something new? Or do you hold on to the past too long?
There are so many cliche’s and quotes behind this thought… “When one door closes, another opens” and “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Change…. most people don’t love it. I do.
Ok, maybe not LOVE it, but embrace the idea behind it. Or… maybe I do love it. But there is so much uncertainty, so many questions about what remains…
See, the challenge for us all is to go through life in the present. NOT thinking about what may happen tomorrow, NOT worrying about what just happened yesterday. There was a sign on my former boss’s desk that I will never forget. It was so simple, but it impacted my life in complex ways. “Be Here Now.”
And so I stole that and made that the cornerstone of my Mental Toughness Academy. Being in the present… overcoming your need to worry about past and future. All we have is now… and risking sounding too cliche, it’s all about seizing the day, and more importantly the moment. CARPE TEMPORIS PUNCTUM… Literally means seize the moment in latin…. so does Carpe Diem.
So I get back to my five words today. This is what hung in the locker room of the Force the night of their last game. We spoke all season about playing for love of the game. The last night was no different than the first. And even though their lives all went in different directions Monday morning, they all were there with one common purpose and goal Sunday night: To love it one more time. TO be fully present and give everything they had to that moment. To respect the game, to love the game, to find passion in every pitch.
What about you? Do you live your life like every moment counts? Or are you worrying too much about things you can’t control? Every day, every moment… make it the most important moment you have. And even if it’s not the last time you see someone or do something, act as if… because you never know when it will be your last. It’s a lot like my favorite definition of faith:
“When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on, or you will learn to fly.”
Regardless of what may happen, regardless of past or future. Regardless of belief or faith. Give all of you the next time you do anything. Know that no matter what happens, if you give everything you have, it always comes back. So instead of worrying about what happened before or what may happen later, Play like TODAY is your last game, give of yourself like it’s all you have. Take nothing for granted. And…Love it… One more time. Every time.
