After all, this one life is all each one of us has been given, we need to live in it, and live in it well. God created us all for a purpose, not just a purpose that we'll eventually figure out in the future, but a purpose for each and every day. I'm not saying that you have to know what your life plans on earth are immediately (some of us kinda have to fish around for that for a while), just know that there is a goodness and purpose for each day. Today is the only day we are guaranteed, and so live each day with purpose.
What is the legacy you wish to leave behind should you die tomorrow? What brings you true joy in this life? That you were a good student? Worker? Traveled a lot? Whatever it is, choose well because unfortunately you can't be or do everything. For me, I want to have time in my life for God, family and friends. That's what I enjoy, do I want do other things? Oh yes!
It makes me sad when I hear someone say, "I'll do that later when I have more time." From where I am in life, I don't have more time in a day, but less. As you get older, you get more responsibilities, and thus less time to do the things you enjoy. So don't wait until you have time later, you won't, I guarantee it. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes you will have more time in the future to do the things you would love to do. In college for example, you don't have much time to do anything, except school, at least I didn't.
So here's my wish for you: take time to figure out things you enjoy, or would enjoy learning how to do, and make a list... a Bucket List or whatever else you'd like to call it. Add big things, small things, and really ridiculous things. That way you can look at your list weekly and see what wouldn't take very much time to do, but that you could say you've done. For example, I have a bucket list, and on it are some pretty silly things, but still things I'd like to say I've done, and are very easy to do. One thing is to run into a department store and ask the cashier "What year is it?!" and when they say "2014" I'll yell "IT WORKED!!!" and run out of the store. See that doesn't take but 2 minutes to do, but I'd check it off my bucket list and be done and move on to the next silly thing, until I have the time and funds to do the bigger things on my list. But I will confess I've not been taking my own advice. I had decided in the spring that if I would do 1 thing a week on my bucket list, I could get a lot of things done. I realize some of the things take courage and gumption to do, while others require you to become incredibly embarrassed. Be okay with that. For me, it took months before I called up a studio to ask about taking dancing lessons. I had wanted to do it for several years, and finally bit the bullet, made the phone call, and honestly had the time of my life learning how to do some dancing. I also learned, but wasn't surprised, that I'm a terrible dancer, but hey I've checked that off my list! I proceeded then a year so later to take some other lessons that I wanted to take, and now I've checked that off my list.
See there is something that you can do now, that you really want to do and that will give you the courage that you will need later to do the big things. I know it is said so frequently, but live in the moment and live now, because seriously it's all we have.
This very much applies to being a Christian as well. If you would like to improve in some areas, discover those areas, and find small ways to achieve that goal. Because if we wait till later to become a better Christian and to serve God, I'm sorry but it's not going to be easier later either. Also, why wait to have a deep relationship with a God who loves you and can help you through the rough times. I've waited and then the rough times came, and I called on God, He heard me, but yet if I had been seeking Him the whole time, I truly believe those hard times wouldn't have been so hard.
Maybe this will help a little to put God's love into perspective: would you be willing to give your one and only son to die for something he did not do, so that a guilty person could walk off scot-free? That's what God did. So why wait to trust and love Him? No one else on earth can love you like He does. Find a way to serve Him now, and try and discover your talents, you do have them. Don't compare your talents to someone else's, God created you differently for a reason. There will be things you are good at, find a way to use that for the Lord. There will be things you will be terrible at, grow and try to be better at these things.
I just don't want my friends to suddenly find themselves too old to do the things they were planning on doing when they had more time. Live now, be who you are, and let God take care of the rest. :-)
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