Live.
Life is too short to let just pass by. A wasted year is a wasted 1.4% of your life, given a roughly 74 year lifespan.
You could be at the top of your game today, and gone tomorrow. Look at Alan Kulwicki and you'll see what I mean.
Kilwicki started racing NASCAR in 1985, with nothing but a borrowed pick-up truck and a race-car that he purchased by saving money for the few years prior. He had no sponsor and obviously a tiny budget. One year he raced with NO sponsors, in a plain white car!
Yet, in 1992, he won the championship by the narrowest points-range ever. Kulwicki was a do-it-yourselfer. He owned his team and his car, and he managed everything himself. He was very methodical and scientific in his approach to modifying the car, engines, etc.
He was the last owner/driver to ever race and win in NASCAR. He also ironically, through his empirical management technique, changed the way that everyone else did things from then on, making it virtually impossible for an owner/driver to succeed because of the huge costs of racing in that sport these days.
Four months later, his plane crashed and he perished. (Read more if you want, the 1990's section particularly, here.)
Remember to be stubborn, and reach for your dreams, and don't put off things unnecessarily.
You can be at the top of your game today, and gone tomorrow.
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Now for my 2¢:
Queen is probably my favorite rock band of all time. I was crushed at Freddie Mercurys untimely death. I think I've always felt a kinship to him because he was a great Lebanese performer and he kinda looked like my uncle Jim. Today when opening my rss feeds I found this video and lyric on top of the list. Funny how life lines things up from places you least expect them.
Queen wrote and performed this the year before Freddie died. He knew he was terminal yet found the inner drive to sing. "The Show Must Go On" is the last track on their final album - Innuendo. It was released 6 weeks before his death in September 1991.
Empty spaces - what are we living for?
Abandoned places - I guess we know the score..
On and on!
Does anybody know what we are looking for?
Another hero - another mindless crime.
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime.
Hold the line!
Does anybody want to take it anymore?
The Show must go on!
The Show must go on!
Inside my heart is breaking,
My make-up may be flaking,
But my smile, still, stays on!
Whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance.
Another heartache - another failed romance.
On and on!
Does anybody know what we are living for?
I guess i'm learning
I must be warmer now..
I'll soon be turning round the corner now.
Outside the dawn is breaking,
But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free!
The Show must go on!
The Show must go on! Yeah!
Ooh! Inside my heart is breaking!
My make-up may be flaking!
But my smile, still, stays on!
Yeah! oh oh oh
My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies,
Fairy tales of yesterday, will grow but never die,
I can fly, my friends!
The Show must go on! Yeah!
The Show must go on!
I'll face it with a grin!
I'm never giving in!
On with the show!
I'll top the bill!
I'll overkill!
I have to find the will to carry on!
On with the,
On with the show!
The Show must go on.
