Before It's Too Late...

Last week I had the wind knocked out of my lungs while I was boarding an airplane in LAX on May 5th, 2009.

As I was boarding the plane I received a phone call from my mother letting me know that my grandmother had passed away...

I immediately fell to one knee and felt an intense surge of emotion course through my veins.

I cried...it's been a long time since I cried in public.

As I was sitting on the plane ride I had all of these thoughts racing through my head, was I a good grandson? did she know how much I Loved her? Could I have done more? Did I make her proud…did I make her proud?

And then I had one realization that really caused me to feel pain. I have a burning desire to make my family proud of me. I, like many others, want to be someone that gives their grandparents many reasons to brag to their friends because of the accomplishments of their grandchildren.

As some of you may already know, I have a book coming out soon. It has always been a dream of mine to one day be a best-selling author. I will be the first author in my entire family. Since this is something really special to me and I knew my family (especially my grandmother) would be so shocked and surprised when they found out, I chose not to tell them.

You see, right now, no one in my family even knows I am writing a book. I wanted to keep it a secret. I had it all planned out in my head. I would send each one of my family members a copy of the finished book with a hand written letter expressing to them how much I Love them and how I would not be the man I am today without all of their Love and support. I envisioned them all calling me to congratulate me.

I envisioned the party that I was going to throw once my book officially mad the best-seller list and I could picture my grandmother there wearing one of her big hats, beaming and smiling with pride and Love. She would make my favorite meal; curry goat and oxtail with rice and beans and sweet plantains. She would come up to me and give me one of her tender loving warm hugs and whisper to me “well done, I’m so proud of you, you have made me feel 10 feet tall today”

Now, when my day comes, it will be different. I realize now that I could have had my book finished months ago if I just concentrated more and work harder toward it. I thought to myself that if I didn’t let all of the small insignificant tasks eat away at my time I would have had the book done, published, and printed in her hands before she passed. And the truth is, I know I am right, I could have worked more diligently on this project. It is one of my most important short-term goals right now because I know how much my book is going to positively impact the lives of the students who read it.

I believe the longest journey on earth is from our heads to our hearts. I’ve always intellectually understood the importance of taking fast action on ideas, having clear goals and executing on them. However, now I really emotionally get it and feel it like never before. Even though I will find solace knowing that she is looking down on me, watching over me, and supporting me, I would rather be able to share my experience with her in person.

So now this brings me to you. What goal have you been thinking about doing for a long time that you’ve been wanting to do so much, that you know once you complete will make your family and friends proud. What have you been wanting to do but have been putting off because you are letting the little things get in the way of the big things that really matter? What is that goal that is most important to you but you have not been spending enough time on?

Today is a gift and that is why it is called the present. Move forward with great tenacity and spirit, not just today but everyday. Make sure you recognize what that goal is for you and start doing whatever you need to do right now to move closer toward making it a reality. Make sure you live a life of no regrets and make sure you let the people who you love know how much you love them by saying it and showing it.

Before it’s too late, start living the life you know you deserve.