“Do you remember what you once told me?

That every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.”

 

vanilla sky

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So.

 

This is a combination of “it isn’t over until it’s over” and “every moment counts.”

 

And I love both of those thoughts.

 

We so often talk about second chances and things like that.

 

Life is funny that way in that it actually gives you millions of second chances. Maybe bazillions of second chances. Okay. Suffice it to say Life gives you more chances to get your shit together than it probably should … but it does.

 

Every day provides another chance. Heck. Every minute is another chance.

Sure.

Not very minute is created equal (some minutes truly are key moments to create change in direction) but I guess the truth of it all is that every passing minute represents another chance.

 

Because you have to start at some point.

‘In the beginning is an end.

And in each end there is a beginning.’

(Tolkien I believe)

Look.

 

No matter how careful you are, there’s going to be the sense you missed something.

 

always something missingThe sinking feeling in your gut that you missed something.

 

There’s that tingling sense that you rushed through moments where you should’ve been paying attention.

 

And, of course, there are moments when it feels like the pressure is too much to take.

 

Yes. There are moments we not only bend but break.

 

Yes. There are moments your head does explode <figuratively not literally one would hope>.

 

But.

You can’t keep dwelling on every moment that slipped by.

 

Or.   You.   Will.   Go.   Frickin’.   Crazy.

 

 

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Whether you feel like you just missed something or you have just exploded from pressure you just gotta pick up the pieces and get going again. no matter how often it happens (and, c’mon, if all of us added up all the moments in our lives where we felt like we missed something we certainly wouldn’t have enough fingers and toes to count them let alone a hi-tech abacus … just think “infinity”)

 

Moments, to me, are like a balance sheet <and I think people would be a lot happier if they looked at it this way>.

 

You miss some things and you make mistakes. That is the liability side.

Let’s call them the expenses of life.

 

You try some things <maybe not successful all the time but you step up in the moment and “do”> and you make some good decisions and have some successes. That is the asset side. Let’s call them revenue of life.

Some people will tell me I have my head up my ass and say success is making the asset side bigger than the liability side.

Well.

I don’t agree.

However … I do want a balance sheet stuffed with expenses and assets. Lots of them. I mean a full frickin’ ledger of stuff.

Look.

We all want to have lived a long and varied life in pursuit of, well, living.  It is interesting because seeking and doing the things that make us happy is a common theme in movies and tv shows and while almost always heartwarming it always tends to leave us in a slightly somberlike thoughtful mood.

 

You know the message is right. If you are unhappy with something, it’s okay to change; it’s okay to begin again.  It’s okay to take one of those moments passing you by and “do” … so do something to change things.

 

Yet, how many of us actually do what seems obvious?

 

Sure.

Some of us have responsibilities that we feel we cannot shirk.

 

And some of us can always find excuses <even if they do sound awful good>.

 

We can always find fear.

 

We can always find solace in “well, we cannot be sure what would have happened.”

 

Probably the most famous quote about this thought is “life is a journey not a destination.”

 

Well, no, that is not really true.

 

Life is a string of minutes.

 

Minutes to do or not do.   The trick, perhaps, is figuring out what would make you happy and not being afraid to admit you need something else and grab the next passing minute and begin.

 

And if you continue to hesitate the next minute?

 

If you continue to focus on the minute passed and decisions made or missed?

 

 

Think about what Tupac Shakur says.

 

Maybe that sounds harsh but sometimes moving on is harsh.

Or maybe better said … it takes some “steeliness” to leave the pieces behind.

Do I believe Tupac was being a jerk in his tone?

Nope.

 

 

I believe he was simply putting a stake in the ground for “grab the next minute.” <only in Tupac-style>

 

So. My message for the day?

 

Look at minutes as opportunities to make a change. Not days. Not weeks. Not months.

 

Think minutes.

 

You may be surprised how such a little thing can make a big difference.

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Written by Bruce