If Not Now, When & If Not You, Who?

I frequently find myself advising others to stop wallowing in yesterday or worrying about tomorrow, while encouraging them to seize the moment--Carpe Diem! The past is history, the future a mystery, but this precious moment is a gift--that's why they call it "the present."

So many of us seem to be wasting our precious gift of NOW, because we're upset over what did or didn't happen yesterday or perhaps even years before, and worried about what might, or might not, happen tomorrow. As such, we unconsciously forfeit our right to seize the moment and live our lives in whatever ways we need to in order to fulfill our wants, needs, hopes, and desires. Similarly, many of us continually put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today. On one hand we seem to think we will have plenty of time to do what we need to do in order to ensure our own health and happiness. Yet, on the other hand, we are left feeling the pain of our unmet wants, needs, hopes and desires. It's a classic double bind that is intimately linked to one of the greatest illusions of humankind: That we have time.

If I had a dollar for every time I have listened to someone complain to me about why they don't have what they want because they "don't have enough time" to get it, I'd be a millionaire. Almost everyone I talk to seems to go on and on while reciting their long list of complaints, which painfully highlights how they have chosen to fill their time, their precious moments, their gift, by mindlessly meeting the wants, needs and demands of others. It's almost like they have been "programmed" to do it, against their own will, even though there is a little still voice, deep inside of them, screaming out--"Help me! Please ... somebody HELP ME get outta this place!"

Yep, right about now, I'm pretty well convinced that one of the main reasons people's lives aren't turning out the way the they want them to is because they are so busy taking care of everything and everyone else, but themselves. It's the proverbial catch-22 that leaves everyone who chooses this route stuck between a rock and a hard place with nowhere to go. Oh yeah, I can hear it now ... "I'll get to it when ..." only when never comes.

The people I meet, who appear to be stuck in this rut generally present as being very unhappy, unhealthy and unable to achieve their goals whether it be loosing weight, finding Mr. or Ms. Right, or just living a more carefree, joyful life.

If, for any reason, this sounds like it might be you, I have some simple questions I'd like to ask you, right here and right now:

Why is everything or everyone else so much more important than you in YOUR life?

Why are you always listed at the very the bottom of your own "to do" list?

When you die, do you think it's possible that others will be able to complete all the tasks at the top of your list?

Do you think it's possible for you to ask those others to go ahead and do those things, NOW?!?

Do you really have to die before you let them do whatever it is?

Really. Seriously. What are you waiting for?

How much time do you think you have left?

When do you think you will find the time to get to you?

Are you still waiting for someone else to take care of you? If so, how's it going?

And finally, take a look around, inside and out. Is "this" the way you envisioned your life to be?

Consider this your wake-up call. I'm here to remind you. This is your one shot at your life. It isn't a dress rehearsal. There won't be another show. You are here-and-now, by a special one time only, limited engagement. This is it! The one and only unique expression of YOU, you are ever going to get. What a great "present!" You don't want to miss it! So, go ahead! Open it up. Look inside! Think to yourself: If not now when and if not you who? Carpe Diem!