Sense of Urgency

"We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient characteristic of life is its coerciveness: it is always urgent, "here and now" without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point-blank."

When you understand that, when you truly grasp the meaning of this then things click. That has been the last two weeks for me. Profound thought, creating profound decisions which will in turn create profound changes. All because there is a sense of urgency about life that cannot be ignored.

Life is precious and we realize that in moments, but we do not always hold those moments tightly to us. We miss the lesson and it slips on by. We forget that there is a 'here and now' and we drift on into the future or slip into our past and get lost there.

We are always becoming and only realize in the now moment who we are at this instant. I have a hope for the future but what I have to focus on is the here and now. The today moment. If I were to live in the past it is just an evaluation of the damage that I have done to myself. The mistakes that I have fumbled through. The good times that are no more. The triumphs and failures of the yester-me is but a part of me today.

My grandfather, who moved from England with us to America, loved Louis L'Amour books and, as I was an avid reader, I read everything that was around and I read these books. There is a quote from Louis L'Amour, "This I am today; that I will be tomorrow."

Up to a point a man's life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him. Then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be ... Everyone has it within his power to say, "This I am today; that I will be tomorrow." ~Louis L'Amour

Today we are someone. We are someone special for there is no other like us. Individual and unique. A spark of creation brought us into being and made us like none other. What we have done with ourselves to this point is all us (whether in the genes, due to where we have come from, choices we have made - all is unique to each individual person). We own that.

Once we realize and truly understand that life is fired point blank at us we can understand that every single decision we make now - in this moment of time - will have repercussions in the me of the future. But we cannot take our eye off of this moment and sometimes, just sometimes, we have to make the decision that is right for this moment.

Love where you have come from. Live for this moment, right now, today. Hope for tomorrow but only with eyes focused on this moment for life is right now. Live now. Love now. Be yourself in this moment. That is my wish for all of you.

Namaste.