SOMEDAY-CITIS

This week I had the pleasure of attending a training table dinner for the UCLA football team to give them wisdom and advice about life after sports. At the start of the dinner, we were just chatting and getting to know each other and they were SHOCKED when I told them I graduated from there in 2012. These guys are 17-19 years old, so the concept of me being 27 was farfetched to them. I was instantly an old lady in their eyes. I am about to celebrate my 10 year high school reunion in 2018, and sitting in a room at my alma mater full of 17-19 years olds (even though I believe I still relate to) definitely made me feel old.  I told them to make the most of their time at UCLA because sooner than they realize, they’ll be sitting on my side of the table as the “mentor” staring at 17-19 year olds calling them old.

Bottom line is: time is flying by and it's waiting for no one.  Thanksgiving is next week, I mean...can you believe it? Wasn't it Halloween yesterday? And Valentine's Day the day before that? Time is not waiting on us; we can't stop it, we can't move it, we can't control it...it's gonna continue to move. 

If you really think about it, we don’t have control over many things in life. We didn’t get to choose where we were born, we didn’t decide who our parents are, and we also didn’t get to select the time period and culture we face.  We certainly don’t get to decide when our time on earth is up. It could be next year, next week, or decades away; God only knows because our lives are in His hands. Our time on this earth is limited, and one thing we have a vast amount of control over is how we use it. If time is our most precious commodity, shouldn’t we start making the most of it?

Think about a moment in your life where you were at an event or doing something and you truly enjoyed yourself…I think back to my college experience; I had the time of my life! Then it was over and I felt like it went by so quickly. It seemed like each year went by faster and faster the more I enjoyed myself. Just as our greatest moments can pass by in a flash, our earthly existence is temporal and finite.  Instead of finding this depressing and letting this natural truth limit us, our mortality should constantly remind us to be ALL that we were made to be.

Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives. - Alan Sachs

 We’re often tempted to play it safe, and satisfied to settle for far less than we were made for.  There are so many people out there whose favorite day of the week is Someday.  “Someday I’m going to go for my dreams.” “Someday, when I retire, I will enjoy life.” “Someday I’m going to get my act together and really commit my life to Christ.” “Someday, when my schedule dies down, I’ll finish what I started.” “Someday I will get in shape and start living a healthier life.” Countless people in every stage of life suffer from “Someday-citis.”  Someday…When…If… then before you know it, it’s over.

Stop living with “someday-citis” and wake up; realize that today…right here…right now…this is life!

The reality is, once we attain what it is that we think we need before we can start living—more money, the right job, a less hectic schedule—we’ll see that it’s not enough to fulfill us, and then we’ll start looking for the next big thing.  Ask yourself, how can I be fully engaged in the present and not feel trapped by the past or paralyzed by the future? I was very motivated when I read the book One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook.  If you imagined that your last day on this earth was only a calendar page away, you would stop taking your time for granted and want every minute to be rich with enjoyment, significance and investment in others.  Start taking inventory of your life and see how you’ve been spending your time. It can be the difference between a sense of contentment, because you know you’re doing exactly what you were made for, or a sense of regret, because you are wasting your time on things that aren’t meaningful. Add energy and increase your level of engagement to produce the benefits you desire. When you apply more energy throughout the day to things that are meaningful and produce value, you experience the effective benefit of multiplying your time. I’m not talking about the quantity of your life (how long you live) but the quality of your life (how you’ll live).  There’s no such day as Someday…someday is now. So get rid of the “Someday-citis” and start living with passion and purpose. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Blessings and Love,

Marti Reed