Every day I like to think that I do my best to I live my life as if it were my last. It’s not that I dwell in the realm of death. Not at all. I am keenly aware that this process we call life is incredibly short and to get the fullest experience from it, living in the moment is key. Life as a human can also end at any time. At the end of the day, I ask myself, “Did I play the game of life fully today? How often was I in the space of joy? Who did I lift up into that same space?”
May I tell you a story as to why I live my life this way?
My father was an entrepreneur at heart. He loved coming up with ideas and putting them into action. Over his lifetime he had multiple businesses and he was good at it, but he never quite made the income that he had set as a goal.
One day in 1987 he made what he considered to be the ultimate fortune – at last! He had bought a small home and was renovating it into a rental property. A major grocery store chain that was coming into the area wanted to buy the property from him. He was elated. At last he’d made his fortune even though it didn’t look like what he had originally intended!
Two weeks after he received what he considered to be the “big check”, he died in the arms of my little sister of a massive hemorrhage due to cancer.
Because I know (and therefore teach others) that each person who comes into our lives is our teacher and our student at the same time, I learned so much from my father. His death was a lesson and in a sense a gift for me to make changes in my own life.
I too am an entrepreneur at heart. I enjoy the thrill of creating successful businesses and helping others create successful businesses too. When we do what we love, the income naturally shows up – when we are open to seeing beyond the obvious. I’ve also learned that balancing work and play is important too. What do I mean?
My father first taught me that doing what you love is essential to your happiness. But balancing that with joy, fun and relationships with people outside of my business successes was critical too. He also taught me that it was important for me to be aware that things show up for us all the time. The question is, are we open to seeing it when it happens? It may not show up looking a certain way, and that’s okay. The best part about the gift he left me was teaching me that I had the power to create whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. I learned that I was a natural born leader when I lived in my passion. People naturally wanted to follow me and do what I did.
Why is this important to you? Because … this could be your story too! You have the power to create anything at any time. That power is always there waiting for you. When will you choose to use it? Will you practice using it every day so that you are designing your life around what matters most?
Life as we know it right now is short, my friends. Know that you are creating absolutely everything; even those things that you think are happening to you. Things never happen to us; they happen through us.
