Chapter 52
Now's The Time
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Today's Empowering Quote
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"Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so
many tomorrows."
-Michael Landon
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Today's Empowering Question
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"What would happen if I put that off until later?"
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Today's Fast Session
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My parents were recently up north visiting from their home
in Florida.
On their last night here, they stayed at my uncle's camp.
So I drove an hour and a half into the mountains to see
them one more time before they left.
Just as I was pulling into the little "one horse town" of
Sherburne, I noticed that I was getting very low on gas,
but I told myself that I'd be able to get some gas on the
way back home.
Well, it was nearly 7 o'clock when I arrived, and we were
having such a good time, that it was 1:30 in the morning
before we knew it.
When I started the vehicle, the gauge was reading even
lower than it did when I pulled in. I felt lucky that the
camp was higher in elevation than the town, so I did a lot
of coasting in neutral. Boy, was I happy to see the
traffic light in town. A quick right and I'd be filling
up...
But the gas station was closed.
Oh no.
I was running on fumes, and nothing was open - not even a
bar!
Four miles to Earlville!? Uh. I'll never make it.
But with no choice, it was north to Earlville... at forty
miles an hour to conserve gas. Man, it seemed all uphill!
Where were the downhill areas?
Finally, mercifully I made it to Earlville... only to find
that their gas station was closed, too.
I was sunk. What to do? What to do?
I was remembering the time twenty two years ago, when I
used my mom's car and didn't put any gas in it before
coming home. She ripped me a new one as she told me how
she coasted into the gas station after the engine died.
I'm not going to be so lucky this time.
Keep going north...
Oh, if I get out of this, I'll never let it get below a
quarter tank again. I swear.
Twelve minutes and seven a-g-o-n-i-z-i-n-g miles later, I
see Colgate University. Oh, thank God. There is no way
that the gas station will be closed, not in a college town
like Hamilton. Now if I can just make it to the gas
station.
There it is!!
And the lights are on. Hooray!! Yippee!!
Oh. Thank you, God in Heaven. And yes, I coasted in, in
neutral, just to make sure I made it all the way.
During the rest of the trip home, I felt lucky to have
been given this lesson. Partly because I didn't lose
anything in the process of learning... many lessons involve
lots of pain. And mostly because it was a lesson that will
most certainly serve me well in the weeks, months and years
to come.
You don't put off things that should be done now.
I should have assumed that the mini-market would close. I
didn't need to put it off. And I should have paid
attention to the clock.
As I was praying for an open gas station, I was
"shoulding" all over myself, and the good part was, I was
listening.
It was my fault.
And the lesson was learned... again.
And in taking complete responsibility instead of cursing
the store, I will have once again set a course in motion...to be paying attention to situations where my decisions
affect outcomes.
No, you can't always plan for everything. And no,
nobody's perfect.
But you can be intelligent. Stupidity is no excuse.
Ignorance is definitely not bliss. It's loss. Pain.
Possibly death.
Michael Landon was best known for his starring roles in
Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Highway to
Heaven. He lived hard, worked hard, partied hard and put
off eating healthy.
I'll never forget his final appearance with Johnny
Carson's Tonight Show in 1991. He said that he had
pancreatic cancer. For people not in the know, this is one
of the most deadly cancers. Most people don't survive
longer than a few months after diagnosis.
His wife had been pushing him to adopt a more vegetarian
lifestyle for years. But he just put it off. There was
always time to start eating right... right?
Not long before his Tonight Show appearance, in constant
agony, facing death, he finally gave into her pressure.
And he told Johnny that the pain from the cancer was out of
this world. Simply terrible.
But, he said, from the day he started exclusively drinking
the vegetable juices his wife prepared for him, the pain
stopped completely. Just like that. So understandably, he
was in good spirits on the show.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The cancer had progressed too far - his body was too toxic
for the pure, cleansing food to save him.
So the message today is this, whatever is pressing,
whatever job has to be done or situation needs to be
attended to, do it now.
Sounds simple right?
Well, it is.
Pull out your copy of First Things First - get your
planner out - look at what is important in your life... and
attend to it.
And you'll find that when you finally start paying
attention to the big things, the important stuff, the
important people, you'll feel... well, it's hard to put
into words.
At worst it reduces the frequency of angry fights with
others over your "forgetting" things. People WILL notice
the difference in you.
And at best, you'll be setting in motion a habit that
could transport you to the top of your profession. It can
make you admired and respected by everyone you know. It
can give you a peace of mind that few enjoy.
Ask constantly, "What COULD happen if I put this off?"
Join the few. It's not lonely there.
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Today's Winning Beliefs
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-- I'm a "Do it now" person
-- I love being busy
-- I get the difficult tasks out of the way first
-- I do things that are good for me
-- I stay away from things that could hurt me
-- "Do it now" is my motto
ThinkRightNow.com
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