life. it's not a dress rehearsal.

As a young twenty something struggling to figure out my so-called 'life.' I frequently spill my guts to my family. Telling them every detail about my daily life that either I am dissatisfied with ... strive for, or just plain can't stand. Now why do I bring this up? Today I received some of the most timely and real advice that I have ever been presented in quite some time.

You can call this copywriting or 'ripping' someone off ... but I'm pretty sure that these next few paragraphs are something everyone should read - no matter how 'successful' you are or 'satisfied' you are. In past years I have frequently found myself making 'self affirmations' about my life - what I want out of life, what I plan to accomplish, but more importantly how I want others to think / remember me. It's a huge task to step away and think outside your daily life, your current situation, and seriously evaluate what it is you 'stand' for. Below is a response from a family member ... several words from the wise.
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It seems that one of the trite, but true aphorisms is that ‘everything changes, and everything remains the same’. I don’t know about your current situation, but I do understand the trials of finding your way in life and the stress and confusion associated with becoming who you are.

Here’s a couple of questions to ask yourself for observation. There is no obligation to spend your life working in the field you chose as a nineteen year-old in college. How can you possibly know? Your have to search, take different paths and go down some dead ends. The trick and the obligation is that you learn from your experience, distill out the essential lessons and apply them to your next effort. The end result is an understanding of who you are, your strengths and weakness’, so you can apply yourself.

Here’s another thing. Check and recheck your assumptions. Verify the premise. And always strive to answer the ultimate question – why? And finally, take the long view - look beyond the short term, the training, the education, to the living and doing phase. Where do you see yourself in five years, ten years, when you’re sixty? Try and define your values, not for family, company or society, and work to achieve them. The time is going to go by, and then it will be over.

Since life is not a dress rehearsal, try to do those things that, when the end is near, you can look back on with satisfaction.
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Now - I have included this blog post purely for my own enjoyment, reflection, and reminder. If anyone does read this, I hope it touches you in a way that makes you sit back, think, evaluate, ponder ... and more importantly change. For change is the one challenge in life.

- a