This Is Your Now. Don't Waste It.

We've all been there at one point or another on our journey through life.  You may be there right now, whether or not you realize it.  What's funny about it that most people don't even entertain the fact of getting around to grabbing at opportunities when they present themselves and the reasons you pretty much can narrow down to a few biggies......no time, it's not the big break they want or people might not be supportive.  Whatever your reasoning is for not jumping on the opportunistic bandwagon are, you may be silently sabotaging yourself to living a life more mediocre than the exciting one created for you to live.  I, like many people, believe that we are brought to this Earth with a specific purpose for the advancement of mankind.  Some go most or all of their lives without really tapping into that potential they always knew was there but didn't pursue it for one reason or another.  As we grow up, we are often geared in one specific path, usually influenced by people, "Oh, you would be so good at that!" or "Did you ever think about going into this for a career?"  By the time we become adults with families and other responsibilities, we've missed the call for things to surface that didn't 'fit' into that five or ten year plan we had for ourselves.  If you don't understand what I'm getting at, let me ask you this.  If given the chance, what would you really like to accomplish in your life and what imprint would you like to leave behind as your legacy when you are long gone?

I hate the word 'career' in all seriousness.  A career is something that is basically something that pays the bills that you HAVE to go to each day, like it or not.  Having just a career compartmentalizes and puts you in a box with very little wiggle room.  Anybody that knows me knows I've devoted a great chunk of my life to the development and advancement of children, education, social issues and fitness.  My jobs as a Teacher's Assistant and a Spinning Instructor hardly define myself as a well-rounded person but they do serve a purpose; a few, in fact.  I never have seen my life as just ordinary, from all the things I've done, been through and yet to do and the things I do from day to day contribute to a bigger picture for me that I like to call my life's work.  I've been given the great gift of being able to connect with people on a personal level, especially kids, probably because I try and not take life too seriously because stressing out about things gives you wrinkles and who needs those?!!  I've also been given the greatest gift of living a functional life from the illness that I had so long ago, which has led me to believe that something greater is in the cards for myself.  So you can see, my life is far from just plain ordinary.  Probably your life is super exciting too, you just live it everyday so as busy as you are, you miss the quality that you actually put out daily for yourself and for others.  In the past few weeks, I've been hearing a lot from people about how they missed the boat with things in their lives that they've regretted not doing or wish they had had the chance to go back and do.  We've all had things that we've given up for whatever reason and it's sad that not doing those things might be keeping us from unlocking our full potentials and really making an indelible impression on this planet.  Think about it, the cure for cancer may lie right at your fingertips.

Trying to find out what you're good at isn't easy at all, ask any 90 year old what they want to be when they grow up and they'll tell you, "I don't know!"  Hopefully it won't take you 90 years to figure out what you're good at and with all the technology available at our fingertips these days, there is more of an opportunity to become everything that you want to be and everything that you should be in your life.  Let me tell you a story that illustrates this perfectly.  So I mentioned before that I'm a Spinning Instructor as well as a certified Personal Trainer, right?  Really, fitness and me, I mean are you kidding??  Well, if you told me that I would be in this

industry ten years ago I would've said that you were crazy but by a strange twist of fate, here I am.  It's funny the twists, turns and script changes your life takes to set you on a totally different course.  I always was the smallest, non-athletic guy growing up so it stands to reason that I wouldn't be going anywhere in the fitness department any time soon.  But if not for the mentoring of many, and I do mean many people, I reached deep down inside myself to find a missing piece of the puzzle I didn't even know existed.  Even with the negative remarks and put-downs from people, I trudged on and finally one day this past July, I made it happen. But where the hell did it come from in the first place?

You know saying that goes everything happens for a reason?  Well, in kind of a odd way, my getting paralyzed was the driving force for me to pursue this path and I am so glad I did.  This is a whole new way of helping people feel good about themselves, the same way my trainers made me feel good about myself.  I know I have miles to go before I'm satisfied with my fitness goals, but that's part of the challenge of it.  If it was easy, everyone would do it! We, especially people of my age bracket, need to recognize that we're in that exciting time of life when things start to take shape in their lives, from personal relationships to professional development.  I'm always one to be keeping my eyes peeled for the next big thing to come along that piques my interest and in service of my life's work; because if it's not in service of the work, why put myself through the stress?  One of the cool things about both of my careers is that they allow some much needed wiggle room for my creativity when developing certain lessons or new Spinning routines for my clients.  One thing, no matter if it's in the classroom or the gym, FUN is a must.  You can't do anything in life if you aren't able to have fun with it and that's what I try to bring to anything I do, also to make people feel comfortable and welcomed.  For years I wanted to be an actor and entertain people....I mean FOR YEARS!  I still kind of do but my stage now if a lot different than what it used to be.  Nowadays, I'm finding my roles taking shape as a supporting character in my clients' lives as their trainer and fitness guide as well as their sometimes quasi-counselor.

If you have a belief in a higher power, you should already have an intuition that someone is pulling the puppet strings with all of us.  Moving people in and out of our lives, creating and ending certain situations so that we can either see a better life opening up or a bad one ending, creating new and interesting beginnings on the horizon.  We've all heard it before:  life is short so don't waste time.  We all think we have an unlimited amount of time until something out of left field comes in a knocks us to the ground like a bat out of hell.  Then the regrets start in our heads, "Why din't I take the time to.....I should've done this when I had the chance....." and so many more excuses.  I've read articles where people have interviewed the dying and asked about their regrets and it's pretty similar across the board to what their responses were.  To have the courage to live a life that true to their selves.  Wishing they hadn't worked so hard.  Wished they had stayed in touch with friends.  Wished they had let themselves be happier.  Sad, isn't it?  Things that we tend to take for granted in this life are among some of the biggest regrets as we face the end of life.  In my short life and from everything that I've experienced and witnessed, I've learned that people and memories are things that I cherish among all others.  Everything else mostly is just accessory and you can't take it with you.  In the end, all we'll have are the memories of our lives here on this planet.  So, if there is something that you are either aching to do or just thinking about doing, DO IT!