Note to Self - Time to Rise

As I suspect it is with most of you, there's just way too much information out there to absorb. I read a lot and retain little. The only thing I always remember is whatever my wife of 27 years tells me (hey, a guy needs to score points when he can...). So when I found an article rating the newest hiking boots/shoes, I needed to be able to tuck that information somewhere it could be easily retrieved. You simply cannot remember names like Garmen Moontracker XGS Duratrack IIIs, or XGen Ninja Clippers 345-TLs (ok I made those up 'cuz I already can't remember the real names). If I saved it on my laptop at home, I wouldn't be able to retrieve it at work or at the store so the obvious answer was to send the article to myself, however, you end up sending just the link (because they want you to return to their website!) so you really STILL don't have the information. A quick copy and paste the body of the article to a new email does the trick, then I just send it to myself (massive ego points for being super intelligent! Wait, what? EVERYBODY does that? Who leaked my trick?!).

This morning I'm sipping my coffee downstairs, determined to post a witty, motivational, emotional story (would you settle for 2 out of 3? How 'bout a really good 1?) because it's either that or the treadmill next to me (it stares at me like the GEICO stack of money with eyes!). To waste some time before I actually have to engage my reduced thinking capacity (like warmups) I pull up my email to wade through the cyber-muck of daily trash that I get. Now I normally delete my Spam without ever clicking on it to see if some quality email got caught in the filter like a dolphin in the tuna nets, but for some reason today I actually checked (I have to save the tuna!). There, laughing at me, was MY OWN EMAIL! In my SPAM FILE! How can that happen? Is my email-writing quality so bad (ala the Nigerian millionaires) that my computer labeled it spam? Was it the collective world consciousness telling me to go ahead and shove that pen in my eye because your own "note to self" messages are less important in this world than "Cooking with Rutabegas by Rachael Ray" cookbook email from Amazon.com?!! (ok, maybe the 'pen in the eye' bit was a little harsh) I slumped in the chair and stared back at my screen, unable to move, attempting to discern the real message...

Then I laughed. Ok, I get it. Irony. Not so much a "you're such a knucklehead" moment as a "here's a little whisper of a Life Lesson".

The "what I say gets listed in order of importance of what I pay attention to" Freudian comment? It's true. Do I really NOT pay attention to what I think or say to myself? It's really true, and it's true with you as well.

Why do you tell yourself that you need to start exercising, then eat that piece of chocolate or nuzzle that pastry at your desk (yes, nuzzle. Think about it). Why do you bemoan working so hard for someone you don't like, then still work late because you feel guilty that you haven't accomplished enough (or because everyone else is still working)? Why is it true that whenever you reflect on your own life you feel like you've gone nowhere, even though you know what you really, really want (yes you do)?

Because you (we) don't pay enough attention to yourself. Because you don't value your own insights, ideas, and dreams. Because you've been taught to shelve and hide your own feelings, your own selfishness, your own agenda for the good of others and community, and the world is using that against you. Marketing geniuses apply guilt and pressure to seduce you, bosses and friends use the same tactics to steal your time, and you apply most of the damage yourself in the misuse of your time and efforts with excuses and justifications.

You've put your own life in your Spam file.

Quit screwing around with your life. Stop floating on the sea and start swimming towards SOMETHING. In a flash your life will be over, what will you have accomplished? You answer all your emails, you return all your phone calls, you are a good employee. You're all the things EVERYBODY ELSE WANTS YOU TO BE, but what do YOU want? What is your destiny? What kind of life has God designed for you? You know the answer but you've been hiding, too busy answering to people who mean little and who in the end won't matter, too busy holding your hands over your ears trying to drown out that voice. You've shelved your own message into your Spam filter but it won't delete. It never will. It's your purpose in life, it's what you're here for.

You have two choices; keep trying to delete that voice, those thoughts, that 'note to self' in your Spam filter. Or answer the call. Cowboy up. Stand and deliver. Decide that the dream inside of you is going to come out one way or another and you are the one who will make sure of it. You and God. Once you decide, truly decide, that you are finally going to fulfill your destiny, it's like calling in an air strike. You just have to ask Him, give the exact coordinates (that means tell Him what you want to accomplish and let Him figure out how you'll get there), then get to work, knowing the impact is imminent. (think about that one too)

I just moved my 'note to self' spam email to my inbox. Easy decision, but backed with conviction and action, it's all you need to do. Go on, fullfill your destiny. It's time to move YOUR dream from spam to your priority inbox.

It's Time To Rise...