Don't Put Off Till Tomorrow.

"Five more minutes," I screamed at my mother as she always tried to awaken me from bed to go to school every morning.

It was a morning ritual. That "5 minutes" would inevitably turn into 10 minutes, which would then turn into 15, then . or, if one does not have a "willing, gullible mother" there's always the clock radio with the ever powerful snooze button. (Why do they have them anyway?)

It's a common habit for many, many people to always "push the snooze button," or more simply put, "procrastinate." I guess I learned the hard way that "procrastination is not the best way to do things and get them accomplished."
In high school I was always "putting things off" or procrastinating. It did not seem to matter, as I was always making great grades, but always pushing it to the limits. If I had a huge final, it did not matter as, apparently, "God would always watch out for me in high school" because I would always (barely, but always) get the work done. That's how I "preferred" it (I thought); I thought I was invincible; at least in regard to my procrastinating ways.

That method of studying seemed to work well as a freshman in college also, as well as the first semester of my sophomore year. I even procrastinated on one of my first semester sophomore finals, not taking exams until after the Christmas break. I did well and thought again: "Procrastination did not hurt me at all." However, very soon I learned life was not so easy, as two weeks after I took that "make up final" my entire life changed forever, as well as my desire to procrastinate.

I was seriously injured, suffering a traumatic brain injury. Most physicians and lay people did not believe I would survive, much less return to college, much less be a functioning member of society ever again. It was not easy. However, I have learned life is not supposed to be easy. Eighteen months after almost losing my life and spending those months in painful therapy I returned to college. Back at college I could now not "skip" my classes as I previously had. My traumatic brain injury obligated me to work hard in order to comprehend the material, and that meant attending all classes and lectures.

However, after four years back at college I graduated at the top of my class with many honors. Smiling and limping as I crossed the stage to accept my diploma from the dean, I realized that all my painful and difficult work was worth everything, as, again, I realized that "anything in life that's worth doing, rarely comes easily." As I accepted the diploma from the dean I chuckled inwardly as I asked myself, "What's procrastination?"

However, years later, I learned another lesson in regard to procrastination.
My family was going to my cousin's wedding in New York City in the late 1990s. Our hotel was directly across the street from the World Trade Towers. I thought about climbing all the stairs to the top (for exercise; to set a "goal"; and simply because I wanted to prove that I could do it). Looking from my hotel room at one of the "Towers" I thought, "It's already getting close to the time when we have to get ready for the wedding, plus, the "Towers" will be there when I return on another trip."

Little could I ever imagine what would happen on September 11, 2001, and that the Towers would NOT be there for a return trip.

Looking back, I realize what might happen when one "puts off for another day" what he can do today. Sometimes the tomorrows never come about. One should never put off until tomorrow what one can do today: climbing a skyscraper, saying you love someone, visiting friends in a hospital. They are all important. One never knows what the future holds in store for you. That is why if you look in the dictionary you will find a definition as "right now" for "present." No one knows what the future will be.

The present is a gift -- that is why it is called "present" -- it's a gift to you -- remember that and live life accordingly.
©2009 by Michael Jordan

An Open Letter to Your Soul

What now, my friend?

You've come this far. Behind you, your victories have piled up. You did all those things that you once thought that you could not do. You found courage in the most intimidating of circumstances. And you found friends and encouragement in the most unlikely of places.

You've built what could not be built and you've traveled roads reserved only for you.

Treachery, humiliation, betrayal and defeat have dogged your path but today--you're still a warrior, still walking your path, and still noble to your creed.
Your adventures have taken you far. They've shaped and reshaped you over the long years. Sometimes it even seems that you've had many incarnations in your singular life.

But still, but still ...

It's waiting for you ...

That one special thing that you must do to become who you really feel you are inside.
I know it's been difficult, and you're weary.
But still, but still ...

Don't you see... it's there, deep inside of you, in the center of your feelings, in the heart of your heart. It's a small thing, a flicker of a hope, a tendril of desire. But it's you, and it wants to come into the world and be recognized.

I know you've done well. Your inner demons, for the most part, have been subdued. And the world that you've made around you and the relationships that you've forged and the career that you've molded and the learning that you've mastered make you much better than you've ever been before.

But still, but still ...

Perhaps you think it doesn't matter and that you don't have to liberate this secret dream that you've nourished in your heart despite all the logic for it existing.

Perhaps you think that the world doesn't really need it anyway.

But if you don't do it... and if you don't make it happen... and if you don't wake up today and seize the moment... something will always be missing.


The world needs your dream. You need your dream. Don't let it slip away.
Somebody somewhere is waiting for it to happen.

A whole chain of universal causation is waiting to unfold... but cannot, because you keep this secret hope locked so deep inside, so tightly sealed from the light of your own acknowledgement that sometimes you can even fool yourself into believing that it's not there.

But in the still small hours of the night, when all your distractions have fallen asleep... you'll find it waiting for you, as discontent as a child calling for its mother.

How long can you keep denying the power within?

The climate will never be hospitable. Your friends will never understand. And your resources will never be adequate. Yet, somehow, these are the most dangerous of dreams.
Listen ...

Once upon a time, Mahatma Gandhi, surrounded by the might of the British Empire, dared to dream of freedom.

Once upon a time, Martin Luther King, surrounded by historically-embedded racism, dared to dream of the equality of all beings regardless of their complexion.

And once upon a time, Nelson Mandela, sick and imprisoned, surrounded by nothing but oppression, dared to dream of a different world.

You, too, have greatness inside of you.

There is something inside you that is so magnificent that if you were to let it out, the entire world would stop and stare in awe. And from that moment on, everything would be different, the broad river of history, itself, would be altered and even the consciousness of humankind would be shifted.

How big is your dream? How magnificent is your soul?

Before you go to bed tonight, ask yourself this question:
What can one person do to change the world and make it better for all human kind?

How much longer will you endure the petty and the mundane? Is your dream worth so little to you that you would rather squander your whole life away rather than finding a way to make it happen? A magnificent soul is never intimidated by consensus reality.

The world needs your gift. Will you deny it?

by Saleem Rana

The Courage Prayer by Mother Teresa

There is a light that beckons you forward and it comes from within
you. Embrace it.

Don't try to hide in the shadow of fear it casts behind you.

For if you are committed to finding the courage to live with an open
heart, there is no greater way to love others, or to love yourself, than to
fulfill your unique potential, to express your unique greatness and to
become the unique leader you have it within you to become.

Finding the courage to be a leader and touch the lives of others in
ways that only you can do, is the most profound act of love, and
service, and significance.

Dare to want more from your life and to dig deeper into yourself to
experience its mystery, its richness, and its sacredness more fully.
For when you do so you will see with greater clarity just how
universal we all are.

And sensing that we are all part of a bigger whole, you will come to
know, perhaps for the first time, that your life is truly holy, and
that it is not just your responsibility to honor the sacred within
you, but your obligation.

This is the truth that speaks from my heart.
I invite you to open yours to receive it.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.