In all of human exploration, with Voyager moving out past Pluto into the Kuiper belt and beyond, with telescopes penetrating the furthest galaxies within the universe, more and more stars are being discovered. Each star is a sun. Around those suns are other worlds, with some of these planets like our humble blue Earth. If we imagine these fantastic planets with other people, maybe some of them like our Earth, with over 7 billion people, their won histories that stretch back thousands of years with countless other people, we can begin to think of how many possibilities there are in the universe.
However, with all those possibilities,
there has never been, nor ever will be, another you.
You are the only person with your unique DNA, experiences, living right here and right now. You are the only chance that the universe will ever have of experiencing you. This is your chance to find what you love and do that.
In our daily rush of life, it’s easy to get busy and forget about the things we love to do. You think you love to binge on Netflix, read the newspaper, hat with your neighbor, coach soccer practice, have a beer while watching the Patriots game, or uploading pictures to Facebook. However, when you begin to list these items, you start to evaluate and compare with others on the list. You weigh the most important and start to ask questions:
Was this really what you love to do?
Was this only something you like doing?
Is it something your spouse or partner or friend likes doing and you just follow along?
When you do this activity, are you smiling?
You live once. You never know how long that life may be. It’s like the scene in “Meet Joe Black,” when a young man, played by Brad Pitt, has just finished having a coffee with the lovely Susan Parrish, played by Claire Forlani. It’s a first meeting, love at first sight, where the :lightning could strike.” They part, missing each other’s backwards glances. Then, Pitt, star-crossed and absent-minded, crosses the street and is honked at. From the other direction he is hit by two cars and instantly killed.
Though this is fiction, there are too many times in daily life where a person is swept away in a breath. This exercise isn’t here to make you feel depressed or sad, but to give you a chance to evaluate what is important in your life and then again enjoy the activities that really matter.
Get out your Commonplace book and write a list of 25 things you love to do. This is a personal list with no wrong answers. And yes, binging on Netflix can be on that list! So too might be listening to the Cocteau Twins, roller-blading with Matt, making and enchilada dinner for someone you love, potting a plant, riding a horse, laying in the grass and watching clouds pass by, watching the stars, writing poetry, hot air ballooning, origami, eating chocolate ice cream with Carol, digging your toes deep in the sands of Cancun, learning to play drums, or visiting a second-hand furniture show downtown. Whatever it is, write it down. Next to each of these, place a date of when you last did these things. Now select one of them and make a commitment to do it within the week. Life is too short not to do the things you love. If you loved doing them once, maybe they are worth doing again.
David Sweet is the managing director of the HR consultancy FocusCore, executive coach, and author of the award winning, Sweet Sales. His passion is to help people break free from what’s holding them back. He is also a runnoholic. You can find out more about him at drdavidsweet.com and follow him on Twitter @drdavidsweet