What is your “Expiration Date”? Are you Shelf Stable Enough to Move Forward?
It never ceases to amaze me as to how and when I come up with the titles that I turn into my stories that I write. The one thing that is consistent is that my coming up with the titles and the writing of the stories never usually happen at the same time. So, what I do, is ensure that when the thought pops into my mind, i quickly enter it as a note on my iPhone and then I begin to percolate. This sometimes happens quickly or as is the case with this story, it may be weeks or more. Well, the percolation came to fruition last night when suddenly the thoughts started to flow and I began to quickly take notes so as to not lose my thoughts. Not sure about you, but at the speed of thought that take place in my mind, they can be gone just as quickly as they occur.
As I sit here writing this article that will also become one of my Leadership Podcasts / Video Blogs, I take note of the fact that today (September 21, 2017), I am 22,909.50 Days into my life. Obviously, if you are reading this or listening to the podcast after today, you will need to add the appropriate number of days to my total. Why don’t you take a few moments and calculate your number of days of your life (so far). It’s quite simple…you take the number of years you have been around and multiply by 365.25 and then add any additional days from the present year you are now in. I think you will be amazed once you see your total.
I sit here at my desk each and every day and I look at the bottle of Bermuda Pink Sand that is in front of me as a reminder that the grains of sand in that bottle amount to the number of days not only for me but also for that of the lives of my family. I also have a sand hour glass that I look at and know that as each day passes, I get to turn it over to start a new day. What that reminds me of is that each of us has 168 hours in a week, 24 hours in a day and many precious minutes each hour. How much of that time do we squander paying no mind to the fact that time continues to run. That is the one constant in this universe we live in, that time continues to run. Life is long. Life is long in possibilities. Who are YOU going to affect and have an impact on? You see, when things are at their worst, that’s when you are needed the most.
So what has this to do with my statement above of asking what is your expiration date? The one thing that is for sure is that none of us knows the day that will be our final day. So I further began to think of all the things that I did or did not do to date over my 63 plus years. I began to think of how because of the things that I did or did not do as to the impact on my health and the impact I had either positively or negatively on my family. I began to create my “bucket list” of things that I want to further do and accomplish before that final tick of my earthly clock. Just some of the examples I recalled were the steps that fell into place that led me to the calling of the John Maxwell Team that I am a strong part of. I recalled the re-discovering of my “why” back in 2013 when I accompanied Dr. John C. Maxwell and a Special Team of Leadership Trainers to Guatemala. Of special note is that I did indeed get to walk my daughter down the aisle on the day of her wedding. I did get to celebrate my oldest son’s journey and successful rising up in the hospitality industry. Of the time that my #2 Son went off to join the military and ended up going to war in defense of his country and how we almost lost him twice. The 2nd time being the most tortuous anguish for his mother, me and others who loved him for 3 1/2 days, until that next phone call came to announce that he was not on the helicopter that had been shot down with total loss of life. As a result of his survival, his next duty station brought him to a location where he would meet his wife to be and eventually allow me the honor and privilege of meeting, holding and interacting with my two beautiful grandchildren.
I have grown to learn and understand that in life there are No Limits in what can be done and what can be achieved. HE put us here for a purpose. I have learned that by putting my faith in the Grand Overall Designer (God) that healing and comfort are a regular thing. My emotions are no longer all over the place and I use the phrase “woulda, coulda, shoulda” a lot less. I no longer fear death. I no longer fear my expiration date because I know that my “shelf life” is unlimited. I make a point each and every day to let my loved ones know that I love them and am proud of them. I take time each and every day to thank My Creator for giving me one more day and acknowledge to Him that since He hasn’t called me home that He has more that He wants me to accomplish. You can’t think about what you owe or what you haven’t done. You have got to keep moving forward. Further, I have to realize that those who have gone before me are fine and more importantly are always looking out for me.
So what is my point through all of this? This is clearly a story that should not be looked at morbidly. And I can assure you that in my time to date on this planet that I have accomplished quite a bit. My point is that while you were reading or listening to this essay that your mind and your sub-conscious was taking you deep within yourself and you were reminiscing about what you have done and wished you would have done during your days to date. My purpose was to get you to look deeply within yourself and hope that you will evoke some changes in you that will allow you to fulfill your purpose on this earth. One never knows truly what ones expiration date is so please make the most of yours. And for go
I close with the question “How Big is Your Frying Pan”? and provide you the story about An ole timer who saw a boy fishing and went over to see how he was doing. The boy had already caught 2 small fish, but as the old man was walking over, the boy landed a huge bass. “That’s a beauty”, the old man said as the boy unhooked the fish. But then the boy tossed the fish back into the water. “What are you doing?” the old man cried out. “That was a whopper”. “Yeah”, replied the boy, “but my frying pan is only 9 inches wide”!
Will you continue to walk through your life throwing back the big fish that will impact your life or will you realize that it is time to get a bigger frying pan? Are you waiting for your expiration date leaving so much yet unfulfilled or will you go about ensuring that rather than throwing yourself away because of an expiration date that you ensure that you continue to keep yourself “Shelf Stable” by being all you can be and doing all you can do?
Peace. BB
Be sure to contact me and let’s discuss how I can help you and your Organization to take it to the next level at http://www.bermudabob.me