Author Og Mandino once said “All the gold in the world cannot buy a dying man one more breath - so what does that make today worth?”.

The younger and more able bodied we are, the less value we seem to ascribe to our days. We have so many of them ahead of us that wandering aimlessly through a few of them does not seem to matter.

But as we age, or perhaps as we encounter disease or disability, each day and sometimes each moment increases significantly in value. And sometimes, as I did, you have an encounter which causes you to hold on tight to each day as if it is pure gold dust in the palm of your hand.

I was driving to work one morning in 2003 when I noticed a semi trailer on the other side of the road. To my horror it mounted the median strip and continued on to the wrong side – my side – of the road and lumbered directly toward me.

The only thing I could do was turn my steering wheel to the right and try and head for the other side of the road – and pray hard. I couldn’t quite get out of its way. It hit me head on, spun my car around, and collected a couple of other cars before knocking down a brick building. Miraculously no-one was seriously injured.

My life didn’t flash before my eyes. But as you can imagine, this incident provided much food for thought in the days, months and years that followed. Had I died under the wheels of the semi-trailer that day what would I have left unfinished? What would I have failed to discover about myself? I instinctively knew, when I was being hurled across the road, that there was more to life than what I had already lived.

Unless we have a “wake-up” call like my encounter with the semi-trailer, we tend to live our lives as if we have an eternity left to do all the things we would like to get around to doing “one day”. I’m here to remind you that you don’t have an eternity – not on this earth anyway. And there are things you should be doing and plans you should be making to ensure you accomplish all those things you are capable of achieving.

Imagine you are 100 years old and your batteries are running low. You may not have much time left so you take the opportunity to reflect back on your life. What is it that you were really glad you did? What made your life significant and worthwhile? And importantly, what things did you do that made other people’s lives better in some way?

Write some of these things down and celebrate them. Do more of them – and encourage others to do the same.

Now think about those things you didn’t do, or the things you left unsaid. What is it that you regret not doing, not trying, not saying, not experiencing? What does your life say about you? Is there something inside you that says “I’m capable of more”?

Write these things down and plan to achieve them. Take your time and start with the simple ones first. Some will take time to plan and implement but don’t be put off. After all, you have the rest of your life to get there!

I believe no matter who we are and what our background, we are all capable of great things. Some of us, through no fault of our own, got off to a slow start. but it is never too late to begin. The years will pass whether we follow our dream or not. In five years time we can either look back and say “if only I’d tried”, or we can say “see how far I’ve come”.

Importantly, don’t ever let your age get in the way of pursuing your passion. We all continue to age physically, and at various points in our lives we have to accept that we’re not as fast or as strong or as agile as we once were. But we are no less capable of enjoying life and making a positive contribution to the lives of others.

There are many people who only realized their true passion or purpose later in life.

I recently heard of a man by the name of Lambert Ferris Bawdrey, a blacksmith and wheelwright, who came to South Australia in 1846. He retired at 70 and set about fulfilling his life long dream of making musical instruments. By the time he died at 95 years of age he had made 40 violins, a double bass, violas and cellos – all of remarkably high quality.

After working in the family business all his life, 51 year old American Robert Lopatin decided to become a doctor. He was in his late 50s when he began to practice medicine as a fully fledged doctor. “I feel like I died and was born again,” he said.

American folk artist Anna Mary (Grandma) Moses began painting at the age of 75 after abandoning a career in embroidery because of arthritis. Her new career lasted 26 years.

"Good people will prosper like palm trees,
Grow tall like Lebanon cedars;
transplanted to God's courtyard,
They'll grow tall in the presence of God,
lithe and green, virile still in old age." (The writer of Psalms)

When you are mining for diamonds, the gem that you unearth in the first pile of dirt is just as valuable as the one you discover on your very last dig.

It’s not too late to pursue your passion and now is the best time to start.

“Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows.” (Michael Landon)


Join me next month as we continue the journey.


(c) Wendy Rush 2007