Time Marches on…Be all you Can Be

“Every age needs men who will redeem the time by living

with a vision of the things that are to be.”

Adlai E. Stevenson

Wow, where has the time gone, we ask over and over again?? In all of our lives there are time markers that reveal themselves day by day in our lives like birthdays, anniversaries, another Christmas, new grandchildren and great-grandchildren…all to reminds us that time is flying by and that we should redeem each day and make sure we are squeezing all the nectar of life out of each day.

However each four years a time marker bursts on the scene and it is called the Olympic Games. In our lifetimes it just always has been every four years like clockwork since 1896. However did you know that it started almost 3,000 years ago or about 800 B.C. The first written account of the Olympics was in 776 B.C. and had only one event a 192 meter foot race called the stade. That race was won by a Greek Cook who apparently wasn’t sampling his wares as our modern day cooks do, eh? Today there are thousands of athletes competing in hundreds of events striving to achieve the gold medallion.

Now let me ask you a question today. Where were you FOUR years ago? Or better yet have you accomplished what you had hoped to in the last four years? For us “seasoned” citizens we fondly remember being 4-years younger, a few pounds lighter and a few less gray hairs and for sure “mucho” more energy.

That being said, what about what we dreamed about doing, going or being? Some say my goal is to just live another day…well congratulations you have achieved 1,460 victories…but what about the others, what were some of your desires, dreams and goals? Are you closer to reaching that goal? Then keep on striving and believing…it’s virtuously impossible to defeat someone who just keeps coming after you. A Prize fighter was once asked about a young challenger and his iron-fisted right hook. The fighter acknowledged the ferocious punch but then said this “I fear more that he keeps coming at me and does not give up.”

It matters not where you are right now, it matters only where you are headed. A wise man once said that we will be the same people five years from now except for the books we read, the dreams we dream, and the people we hang out with. All within your wheel house of achievement.
The Great Apostle Paul gives us some insight to this when he exhorted the church at Ephesus: “See then that you walk circumspectly (cautiously), not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15, 16 NKJV)…Good books, good dreams and good friends help us adhere to this admonition.

You may not be able to sway an election, build a huge business or even begin a great charity but you can become the BEST YOU this world has ever seen. And by doing that you will affect the world around you which contains the people you love the most…So as you begin to view a few of the Olympic events you like the most remember to “flush” the past (except for the valuable lessons learned) and focus on today letting tomorrow take care of itself.

Jim