Book Excerpt-Chapter1

Death is inevitable. When a loved one dies, people gather around for a period of mourning and comforting the survivors. It is during the moments of reflection, stories about you will be told. Your successes and/or failures will be told from different points of view. People will have a special memory or experience they desire to share. For several days, your life will become an open book for all to dissect. After the funeral or memorial service, you will probably be taken to a cemetery where your remains will be buried for eternity.
Each time I stand in a cemetery, I feel a sense of grief that goes beyond the death of a loved one. In a cemetery are songs that have never been produced or sung. There are books that have never been written or turned into plays and Broadway productions. There are creative ideas and witty inventions that will never see the light of day. You have businesses that could have employed thousands of people, yet the business plan was never given serious consideration or never came out of the planning stage. You have dreams that died with the last breath the deceased uttered. You see, most people who died have been meaning to get around to their dreams all of their lives. Yet, they never found the time, they didn’t have the money, they faced tremendous fear or they were too distracted by the issues of life. They were so busy trying to survive living a life of mediocrity and maintaining their sanity that they never gave themselves permission to focus on something abstract. The concept could never take shape, it was foreign, almost impossible. Do you want to be the individual that others say you could have done so much, you should have accomplished more? Could have, should have, would have?

Well fortunately, you are still breathing. You still have the activity of your limbs and you are in a right mind. You have a choice. That choice is to continue living a life that is dictated by your circumstances or become proactive to ensure your dreams don’t die.

You also have a reason to be motivated. Unless, you are totally fulfilled in every area of your life, then there is something you’ve desired secretly for a long time. Perhaps you never shared it with anyone else, but it’s still there. A small example, I have always desired to be on The Wheel of Fortune. Each time I watch the show, I can envision myself as a contestant. I have created a strategy in my mind that will undoubtedly guarantee that I will not go home empty handed. I know what I will say to Pat Sajek and Vanna White. Yet, I have never even attempted to find out what are the rules and regulations to be a contestant. The fear of rejection or the thought that it’s possible for me seems so foreign. I took myself out of contention before I ever submitted my name. But the dream is real for me.
So what are you going to do? Are you willing to stand on the sidelines of life afraid to participate or are you going to at least fight for what you desire? Do you want to be the individual who could have, should have and would have been great at something but never got around to it? Or are you interested in pursuing your dreams one step at a time?

When you look back over your life, what is the one dream that you want to see became a reality in your life?