When I was a senior in high school, I got home one day and heard loud crying coming from an upstairs bedroom. I ran up the stairs and found my mother crying on top of her bed. I had never seen her like this before.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I haven’t accomplished anything!” she cried. “What have I done with my life? – Nothing!”
At first, I didn't know what to say.
Finally, I said “You raised a family. You worked. You make wonderful dinners for us, and at family gatherings.”
“It’s not enough,” she cried. “I haven’t accomplished anything.”
I didn't know what else to tell her. All I could think of was “Yes, you have, Mom. Yes, you have.”
My mother was a strong woman. She had been a star athlete in high school—played tennis, volleyball, softball, and basketball. She told me once that her secret ambition was to go to West Point, the U.S. Military Academy. But this was long before women were allowed.
She graduated from high school during the Great Depression. Graduates were told NOT to seek jobs because there weren't any. Nevertheless, my mother did find work. She worked for a chain of small candy stores, and was manager of stores in Philadelphia, Ocean City, New Jersey, and finally in downtown Boston.
For the last sixteen years she had been a waitress in a busy Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in our hometown. She was one of the best waitresses they ever had. People would request her when they came in. Whenever there was a large family with children to be seated, they always seated them in my mother's station. She loved kids and they knew it.
When she got home at night, I would count her tips on our dining room table. I was always impressed. But, now in her early sixties, she suddenly realized that she hadn't accomplished the great things she had hoped for.
Forty years later I got an idea of what my mother had been going through that day when I found her crying on her bed.
I was walking down Tremont Street in Boston, across from the Boston Common. It was a beautiful autumn day as I passed by Emerson College’s student radio station. Through the big picture window I could see a young man talking into a big microphone. He looked a lot like me when I was his age. He was doing the afternoon radio broadcast.
Suddenly something happened to me. I felt as if someone had sucker-punched me in the gut. Tears rolled down my face. Why hadn't I done what that young man was doing? I had wanted to go to Emerson College, but instead I had chosen an easier school to get into. Emerson College was a school that specialized in oral communication and acting.
My grades weren't good in high school, but my SAT scores could have gotten me in—maybe. Problem was, I never finished filling out the application to Emerson. I got lazy and was afraid to try.
As I stood looking into that broadcast studio I realized a painful truth—that youthful opportunity was gone. I had let my chance to go to Emerson pass me by. What hurt the most was that it was a time of my life that I could NEVER GET BACK. It was GONE, FOREVER. At that moment I knew what my mother had felt forty years ago.
From that autumn day, I made a commitment to not let opportunity pass me by again.
So, what’s the point of all this? What’s the moral? What’s in it for you? I think it’s this:
Number 1: Your life span is limited. It will end someday. It has a beginning and an end. What you do between these two events makes all the difference. If you let something that’s import to you pass you by, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
Number 2: Most of us have heard the expression “Do it now.” Unfortunately, in this multi-tasking age, such advice can have you chasing your own tail. What I think is more helpful is this advice: DO WHAT’S IMPORTANT NOW. Don’t wait until “someday,” because someday may be too late. Do what’s important now.
Not next year. Not next month. Not next week. Not tomorrow. DO WHAT’S IMPORTANT NOW. Begin today, this moment. Now.
Ken West writes and speaks about motivation and self-discipline. He is the author of Get What You Want http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982577702 . You can contact Ken at KenWest@BetterGripMedia.com or by calling Ken at 954-249-5346.
No comments:
Post a Comment