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Seizing the Day
July 31, 2004
Every day we have the
opportunity to wake up and choose how we will spend our time. We don't
have to strive for greatness. We don't have to strive for health. We
don't have to strive for anything more than what we choose. We can
choose to stay in bed every day. We can choose to sleep long hours. We
can choose to stay up late and party. There's virtually no limit to the
possible ways we can spend our time.
Thankfully, we all have
motivating factors in our lives besides our will. We are motivated by
love, friendship, money, food, shelter, clothing, and more. We want to
be accepted by our friends, our peers, our colleagues, our family, our
pets. And we certainly don't want any pain! We try to avoid pain at
almost any cost, at least the pain we can foresee.
Sometimes, though, we
choose pain over pleasure. Why? Because we think it's worth it. As I
mentioned in another message, John Maxwell recommends taking someone
with us on our journey through life. That decision to take a traveling
companion will bring us pain at times. It's unavoidable, in fact. We
will disagree on which sights to see, what time to go to bed, what to
eat. We will be delayed sometimes because of our companion, and maybe
we'll even miss the train. But it's worth the occasional pain of missed
trains and more, because the experience is so much richer when we have
someone to share it with. Most of us make this choice in life: We
choose to have friends and loved ones to whom we commit ourselves,
knowing all along that we will probably be hurt at some point.
Pain is often necessary
for us to gain the good we desire in life. We must challenge ourselves
to do the good we know we must, no matter what happens. When we want to
lose weight, is it easy to eat a little less, eat higher quality foods,
and exercise daily? No, but when we know the good we want, that pain is
worth it. What is the alternative? For some, the alternative is an
earlier death, perhaps because of high blood pressure or high
cholesterol. The conditions vary with each person.
Consider what it takes
for Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France. Consider also what it
takes for anyone to compete in and complete the Tour de France. Weeks
and weeks of training. Very careful dieting. Six to eight hours a day
riding bicycle. Sitting in an office chair working hard for six to
eight hours a day is hard enough! Yet that is what we must do. We must
take our own work and treat it as training for the greatest event we
could ever compete in.
Each day we have the
opportunity to choose what we will do. Will we stay a few extra minutes
in bed or will we charge forth into the day to seize the opportunity at
hand. We must focus on the future. A little pain today can prevent a
lot of pain tomorrow. John Maxwell says that we can play now and pay
later, or we can pay now and play later. Which will you choose?
With many blessings and
wishes for successful positive change,
Courtney Huntington
Founder
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