First thing we’d climb a tree
And maybe then we’d talk
Or sit silently
And listen to our thoughts
With illusions of someday
Cast in a golden light
No dress rehearsal
This is our life
Ahead By a Century – The Tragically Hip
There is no dress rehearsal, this is our life. We think someday we will have everything we dreamed of and then we will be happy, but there are no guarantees, no one knows how much time we really have or how our life can change in an instant.
We take things for granted, waiting for that perfect time to live our best life and when we look back, another day has gone by, another year and another decade gone by.
Life passes us by so quickly on the treadmill of this rat race. We think we are getting ahead but really; we are not going anywhere, just spinning in one place.
If seems like no one is satisfied with what they have, everyone wants more and more until everything comes to a standstill and then we have no choice but to take stalk of what is important in our lives.
It is only when we or someone we love is suddenly faced with a life-threatening health issue or is in an accident, or hit with some other tragedy, that we realize how precious every moment is. The little moments spent with loved ones, doing things we enjoy are the important moments, not the big dreams of material things.
If you are waiting to be happy once you have a new job, more money, a bigger better house, or the perfect partner, you are not living your best life. The only way to live your best life is to enjoy this present moment and to be grateful for what you have now.
It is okay to dream and plan and fantasize about the life you want but do not forget to live the life you have now, this moment that will be gone forever in the next moment.
If you are waiting for an apology from someone, if you are holding a grudge, now is the time to let it go, do not take it into the next month or the next year. Write down all the hurt, the pain that you think they are responsible for and then burn that paper. Feel yourself free of the hold they had on you and let go of it forever. Remember, forgiving and not forgetting is like not forgiving at all.
If you are still playing the victim, stop wasting your time and know that at any moment, you have a choice to change your beliefs about anything. At any moment you can say this is no longer me, I choose to believe something different and take steps to move toward the life that you want.
Look at all your beliefs and examine them. Is it true or is it because someone told you it was so? What is right and what is wrong, decide for yourself instead of following old rules and beliefs that were passed down to you from generations. You only live this life once so live it on your own terms. There is no dress rehearsal, this is life.
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam
“You only pass through this life once, you don’t come back for an encore.” — Elvis Presley
“Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.” – John Lennon