What's Holding You Back?

I get asked all the time when I'm going to retire.  Everybody seems to think that I work too hard.  I do work a lot of hours, particularly during football season.  But that wise man Bruce Guilliaume once said "when you can't tell if it's work or play, you've got it made," or something like that.  I'm there.


I guess I'm a bit of a philosopher.  Goodness knows I'm no theologian.  I've got far more questions than I do answers and aren't those blessed in theology supposed to have all the answers too?


Oh, my mama always had hopes that I would be a preacher and early on as I searched high and low for what I wanted to be (and got lost in that search more than once) maybe that was a consideration.  A Baptist preacher of course. 


But I do just have too many darn questions to try and tell anybody about religion and how to live a righteous life and all that.  I'm much better at much simpler pursuits, like living a good life, loving all, walking the walk.  Working diligently to make my small world a better place.


In my 63+ years here on earth, I've experienced a lot of things.  Some good.  Some bad.  Some hard. 

But all those ingredients have made me who I am and led me to a place where I am happy, where I have no regrets. 


Would I change some things?  Oh sure.  Maybe.  Well...no.


I would love to talk to my Dad one more time.  I'd love to tell him all the things that have made my life so rich since he passed away.  He would have loved those great-grandchildren with all his heart just like he did those grandchildren.


But then he would be 103 now and frail, maybe not remembering where to go for supper.  And in pain all the time.  So it seems selfish to want him to be around.  Still...


So here's where I go off on being the philosopher (although I'm not sure I'm really old enough to offer too much life advice):  Be happy with who you are.  Love yourself.  You're all the you you've got.


Don't keep score.  It really doesn't matter how big your house is or how nice your car might be.  Life is about who you love and who loves you. 


Life is about trust and passion and happiness.  It's about laughing until your face hurts. And understanding what unconditional love really means.


Life is all about what you do with it.  Are you making the world a better place?  Are you making those in your life happier?  Do they feel better about themselves because you're in their life?


Life is about not having regrets, even for the mistakes you made.  Sometimes the person we have become is dependent upon those mistakes and the lessons learned.  But oh, for sure learn from those mistakes. 


You want to know one of the best things about life?  What happened yesterday is the past.  What happens tomorrow is the future.  And you are in control of the future. 


Make it happen.  Be the person you want to be.  Live the life of your dreams.  What's holding you back?