TOMORROW IT COULD ALL BE OVER
#1 – Kelsey was my little neighbor. When she is 17 years old a group of her friends went sledding for some winter fun. On their way home the driver of the vehicle lost control on the ice and they spun off the road, went over an embankment and rolled the car. Fortunately they all had seat belts on. Kelsey later told me that all she wanted to do when she got home was to hug her family and spend time with each of them. The accident had helped her re-prioritize her life.
#2 – Last Sunday about 2am a family who lives near to us was sleeping. Suddenly they woke up to a house filled with pitch-black smoke and flames dancing in the hall outside the bedroom. The father was able to get the family out of the house but the structure was a total loss. A friend stopped by what was left of their house and saw the father watching his house burn. My friend said to the man, “It looks like you’ve had a very bad night.” The man was clutching his family and he drew a deep breath of fresh winter air into his lungs and said, “No Sir! This has been a very good night. I can still breathe this fresh air and so can all my family. The fire had helped this man to re-prioritize his life.
#3 – Nearly 3 decades ago I was flying an airplane back home late one night. As I was making my descent over the city the engine of the plane abruptly quit. I couldn’t get it to restart. My wife and I plunged down into the darkness. We were forced to make an emergency landing in a small rural neighborhood of homes. The landing didn’t turn out so well. We lost our airplane but we were both lucky to walk away from the accident, alive and unharmed. (I have written extensively about that plane crash and its effects on me in my book entitled, “How to Get Where You’re Goaling” and you can read it for free). My plane crash definitely helped me re-prioritize my life.
What do all these stories have in common? Simply this: Don’t wait for some external event to JOLT you into action. Make up your mind TODAY that you will decide what is important to you in your life and then don’t waste any more time. Start working on the things that are really important. Why? Because … tomorrow it could all be over!