WAYNE'S WORDS
APRIL, 2006
TOPIC: DON'T WANT TO WASTE ANY MORE TIME

I just recently turned 54. It's a really good time in my life right now.
My daughter is on her own. Any money I do make, I get to keep for myself. Soon I'll be retiring from teaching for 26+ years. I'm looking forward to buying a house and having a little bit of country around me. So life is good, except, I'm starting to realize that I'm running out of time.

I was driving in my RAV4 the other day and I heard the Tim McGraw song "Live Like You Were Dying." I've heard it many times before, but that day it clicked. In the song, Tim's buddy found out he's going to die and soon. The buddy tells Tim he went out and did all those things he always wanted to do. He went sky diving, mountain climbing, and bull riding. But more importantly, he spent more time with his dying Dad, and he was a better husband. He became a better friend, and he didn't waste energy on being mad, but forgave people instead. The most important line in the song was: "Tomorrow is a gift, and you've got eternity to think about what would you do with it."

Think about that, every day is a gift. When we are gone, we will have eternity to look back on our lives and think, what did I do with my life? When we were all younger, and stupid, we always wished time would go faster. All through school we wished we were older. As we got older, we wished we had money. Older still, we wished for more money to buy more stuff, a house for the family, the cars, and for us Tri-Geeks, the bikes and wetsuits and tri-gear, the entry fees and the travel expenses. Eventually, we find our selves counting the days when we don't have to work, where we can spend our time doing pretty much want we want every day. The problem is it took me this long to realized, I've been wishing away the most valuable thing I have, my time. Now that I realize how valuable it is, I'll have less of it to enjoy.
We can never have back today. We can't buy it and when our time is up, we have our eternity to reflect on our lives and what we did with it.

We need, at times, to take a good hard look at our lives and think what we'd do different, if we could do it all over again.
No matter where you are in the stages of your life, respect and value each and every day you're on this good earth.
We all have to do things we don't really want to do. We all have to be responsible for jobs and family. But make sure, whenever you can, you do those things you would do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow. Do that triathlon you've always wanted to do. Do some sky diving and some bull riding. Take the whole family to the next out-of-town triathlon or race, and make it a mini-vacation. Get out and play with you kids, and show them how to ride their bike, swim, and let them jog along with you. Walk along that beach and realize how wonderful life can be. Help others whenever and wherever you can. Help out those newbies that need some coaching and some advice. Be a volunteer and cheer on your buddies. Not to get too mushy and stuff, but the true measure of a good life is how many people you helped along the way, and how many people you loved.
Find people to help and love every day, because you never know when your eternity will start.

Don't waste any more of the most valuable gift we all have, our precious time here. Like Tim said, "Live like you were Dying" because as sad as it is, we have all had people in our lives that are gone, that we wish we had been able to spend a little more time with.

Until Next Time
Train Smart, Live Right.

Wayne
whuckshold@yahoo.com