Uh-Oh: Is It Too Late To Be Good?
Kids everywhere are chewing their fingernails and looking over their shoulders. If it’s true, they wonder, that Santa is “making a list and checking it twice, going to find out who’s naughty or nice,” then, given all my sins of the past year, do I have any chance of getting that present I wish for?
It’s the same for adults, of course. Have you noticed those around you who are limping to 2009’s finish line? They’ve bagged the year. They’ve given up on others – and themselves. “I’m done,” is spoken everywhere.
And why not give up on 2009? After all, it’s too difficult too care – to be good – anymore, isn’t it? With the shape the economy is in, with “we-have-to-do-more-with-less” bosses everywhere, and a body that’s rounder and softer than 12 months ago, there probably won’t be the wished-for present under the tree for you this year, will there.
It’s Not Too Late!
Don’t believe the illusion for a second. It’s not too late. Santa doesn’t care about what you did and didn’t do in the past – he cares about right now. What happens if Santa is as forward-focused as you want to be? Because he’s in your corner, all he cares about is you picking yourself up, dusting off the crumbs of 2009, and preparing for the opportunities of tomorrow.
Sound like rhetoric to you? Perhaps, but we should remind ourselves that momentum is an invaluable resource. Therefore, what happens if your success in 2010 depends on your finish to 2009?
Besides, the only difference between 2009 and 2010 is the tick of a clock – the same sort of tick that’s been ticking, well, your entire life.
It’s not too late to be good. In fact, now’s the perfect time.
Never to late to be good and always time to do the right thing. I love the following quote by General George S. Patton, which came to mind as I read “It’s not too late…:”
“Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired.”
Put another way, “it’s matter of mind over matter.” Similarly, “it’s not too late to be good. In fact now’s the perfect time.” The idea of “its too late…” seems to be evidence of one [choosing] to give up. Which conveniently reminds me of another inspiring military quote, “From the last plane to the last bullet to last minute to the last man (or woman) – we fight. We FIGHT!”
It’s not always easy to fight on. Its not always easy to rise above the conditions of circumstance. Conversely, it is NOT easy to live with knowing you gave up too soon. I imagine it all comes down to final choices. And, as long as there is breath in the lungs, blood in the veins, and a beating heart within your chest, FIGHT on forwardly focused for tomorrows opportunity and possibilities still of today. Drive on!
John – you inspire! This especially resonated: “It is not easy to live with knowledge you gave up too soon.” Powerful – and reminds me to hold myself and progress in Degrees of Strength, pick myself up again, and move forward. Doing so means the best is always ahead!
Craig