VIRB

As I find myself in a new year, 2008, I can't help but think about how much time has passed by me. I am 27 now, and I finally think I am beginning to just now start to fathom (not understand) the massive force known as Time. Time is such a tricky thing, because you always wish you had more of it, and no matter how much of it you have at your disposal, it never seems to be enough. It so easy to waste it, and you never know how much of it you have left.

I recently have encountered from an up-close distance the bitter reality of time being up. It might be regarded as morbid to think of your life ending, but in all honesty, you never know how much time you have left. And the truth is, each and every one of us has an unknown amount of time left, some more than others...

A few months ago, I watched as a man made a poor choice while driving late one evening, and I saw his time on earth expire. He was young, in his early 30's, and I am sure that he had no idea that his clock was about to hit zero. If a person ever did/does think about the way they are going to die, I couldn't have imagined that this guy would have ever thought that he would die by trying to pass my car and a semi truck at 3 AM on a back road.

It all seemed so cheap.

Never had I viewed time in such a quick summation of life and death than in that moment. I couldn't help but think about the friends & family that this guy had, or the people he knew. I couldn't help but think of the things that troubled his daily life, his successes, his failures, his epic triumphant life moments, and his lowest despairs... Or the impact that he had or didn't have on the people around him. And what did they culminate to? His time was up. He didn't know it, but his hourglass had run out.

As some of you know, and any close friend of mine could tell you, I am addicted to the tv show LOST. Its no secret really, I am quite hooked. One of the main driving plot points of that show is the thought of destiny. Destiny is extremely thought provoking for me, hence my love for the show. To me, destiny & time are intertwined in a perfect harmony, so much so, it is absolutely mind blowing to think about the marriage of the two.

I believe and have believed for a very long time, that everything happens for a reason. The people that come in and out of your life, and the time that they do is for a reason. The good things & the bad things that happen to you, the when & the how... the timing of each major & minor event, all play into the over arching "destiny" of your life. The jobs we take, the jobs we quit, the people we love, the heartbreaks we experience, the swell times, and the lowest of lows all play into this thing called your life.... the hyphen of time you live between your day of birth and your day of death.

I guess its taken me 27 years here to realize the impact one has in the world. We each have a set amount of time, and its about time that I started using what time I have left. I guess this is my public service announcement to the online world simply stating that my goal is to live each day as if it were the last day I'll spend on earth. I want to live my life in such a way, that I won't need tomorrow to correct the mistakes of today. I want more meaning out of each thing I do & say. I want to help others live their lives with more meaning, and I want to impact those around me as much as I want to allow myself to be impacted.

Its a wonder really, to think about the mysterious ways people come into your life and how all things come together. The mangled web of people around you can become a rather overwhelming thought when you start trying to piece together how, when and why certain people are in your life.... not to mention how their web of people in their life intertwines with yours and why. Also, when you start looking at your life on a linear scale you start to see the times when various people came in and went back out of your life, and it all becomes quite beautiful. Time & destiny, God's overarching plan for your life is such a beautiful complex organism ever evolving, often seeming extremely chaotic, and certainly feeling at times to be completely random, but it is throughly known & well mapped out by your Maker, your Architect.

I loved the game of tag as a child. Running around recklessly, chasing your friends in the yard, you seem to have zero cares in the world. The truth is, as we grow older the game doesn't end, it just takes on a new form. Instead of playing a game of passing around a mysterious "it", it is a new game of passing on words of wisdom, of comfort, of help, or of harsh words, of bitterness.... and the list goes on and on. We all impact everyone in our lives in some way or another.... for the good, or for the bad. Its these "invisible tags" that drive us into the people we become and are. Some we will impact more than others, but when our time is up, the things that will be remembered most by those who are still here, is how we were towards them, the impact we made in their lives. People that go down in history books are almost always people that have impacted those around them in either a good way or a bad.

You can either make your mark in this world, for the brief time you are here, by being all you can be to those around you, and going down in history as one who loved, showed compassion, gave to those in need, imparted words of wisdom, helped those in times of trouble, etc. etc, or by choosing to ignore the time you are given, piss it all away & be remember for the life of despair you brought upon yourself & others.... or worse yet, be completely forgotten.

Friends, pay close attention in the coming days to those in your life, and the opportunities to impact one another. Leave a legacy to be remembered for ages to come. Touch those around you, while allowing others in your life to help grow and develop you. I know I will.

If you are still reading this blog, I hope that it has at the very least provoked you to evaluate your remaining time on earth, and the very most, forces you to live towards completing your legacy. Thank you for letting me impact you, now its your turn to go out and do the same.

Tag you're it.