This Is Your Time

I am presently sitting in JK’s Cafe in Mulberry, FL.  There is a sign on the wall which reads, “Your life is now, seize it and make it amazing.  Find your voice.  Discover your passion and pursue it.  Be honest, generous and kind.  Surround yourself with love, laughter and truth.  Let your heart be your guide.  Make a difference.  Be brave and wild at heart.  Take chances, ask questions.  Be fearless, make a difference.  This is your time.”

I have sat here pondering these simple phrases.  I am thinking about human history and the various roles people have played in it.  In life there have been individuals which have stood out in history as ones who lived with a brave and wild heart.  Most, however, I think existed in life, but never really lived it.  In Mel Gibson’s version of the William Wallace story Gibson says this line as William Wallace, “Every man dies, not every man really lives.”

This Wallace quote and this sign have me reflecting on my life now that I am in the middle of my earthly existence.  I am asking myself if I have actually found my voice.  I am asking if I have truly seized life and am I making it amazing.  I am asking if I have truly discovered my passion and am I pursuing it.  I am asking if I am an honest, generous and kind person.  I am asking if I truly love, laugh and live a truthful life.  I am asking if I am really making a difference because I have chosen to be brave and wild at heart in a “civilized” world.  I am asking if I take chances and ask the hard questions of life.  I am asking if I am fearless and a true difference maker.

Upon evaluation, I think I am just starting to be this person.  As I have reflected on my past I believe I have tried to be a people pleaser.  I think I have tried to live up to the expectations of others.  Now that I am a father, I am beginning to understand the power of my voice and legacy.  I am beginning to realize I want my children to be better than me.  I want them to experience more out of this world and to have a bigger impact than I ever made.  I am beginning to understand, in the context of human history, that this time truly is my time.

This reflection does not mean I am disappointed in my past.  Nor does it mean I think I have not had an influence or positive bearing on humanity.  What it does mean is I think I have had to many hours of unintentional living.  I have had too many days of coasting through this world.  Michael Hyatt describes this feeling I am describing as the drift.  He tells the story of a time in which he and his wife were snorkeling and were having a great time.  After a considerable amount of time, they took their heads out of the water and looked around and found they had drifted in a rip current almost a mile away from the shore.  They spent the next hour or so, swimming back to the shore.  Hyatt goes on to explain that most people in life go through in a drift.

I guess as I sit here at this table, these thoughts are passing through my mind and I am saying to myself, “I am not willing to just exist.  I want to thrive.  I want this to be my time in which I impact this world.”  Will you join me in this desire and determination to make a difference in this world?  I pray you will.