Who Stole 2013??!!
Don’t leave ‘Good Times’ to chance.
Experiences have to be woven with care
and planning, like a tapestry.” – Jim Rohn
Wow! Who stole 2013? It’s gone, and it sure did go fast! It seems like just last week I was celebrating 2012’s New Year’s Eve at the White Party in Anaheim. If left to chance, 2014 will go the same way, and you could still be left deciding to get your goals set and make your vacation plans!
Something I recently read in Success Magazine last month, struck a chord with me as I started to plan for my 2014: “It’s not the time you invest; it’s the investment you make in the time you spend, with those you care about, that makes the difference.” – Jim Rohn. He said one can’t leave creating a great time and wonderful memories to chance. He would prompt, “you have to weave the tapestry of a wonderful experience through great design and planning, in the same way you would for your business.”
During the summer of 2012, my wife Debbie and I took a three week trip to Paris, London, and other European cities. What a fantastic trip! It was like our second honeymoon; just the two of us exploring Europe and having fun. We planned to do it again last Summer in 2013, as we had loved it so much, and even paid for Nana to fly from South Africa to take care of our daughter Tayla. But it never happened. One issue occurred after the next, and eventually we realized we would not be making our much anticipated trip that summer. Now that 2013 is over, I look back at photos and videos from past years, and I am struck by the “preciousness” of time, and in what makes us choose what is important or not?
We only get one journey where we decided how we are going to spend our time. It’s so easy to get caught up in the mundane task of doing and producing, as if it’s our only choice. At times it can seem that vacation is merely a distraction. But looking back I knew that wasn’t right. Time goes by so quickly, and it is up to us to make sure we have no regrets about not doing the things that matter.
Just last week my daughter said to me: “Hey Dad, we need to talk!” “Okay, what’s up?” “Tell me, is Santa Clause real? My friends say he is not!” Wow, have I really reached that stage already in my daughter’s life? Tayla loves us to reminisce with stories of her as a baby. She listens with a grin from ear to ear, and laughs uncontrollably as we tell her all the cute and not so cute things she got up to in her infancy. It got me thinking how building and recording memories are so important, and how being present and available for our kids and family is so vital. I remember so clearly the day Tayla was born. I always thought she would be my little baby girl. The other day she asked if she and her friend could sit apart from us at the movies. Man! That was a stab to the heart. Nine years old and already too cool to sit with her parents! Thankfully the trailers were scary and she and her friend came rushing back to sit next to us. It all goes by so fast. I realized then, that I never want to regret missing the important moments in life.
2014 is but a few days old. New, exciting, and loaded with future possibilities, opportunities and adventures! Each one of us gets to write our own story for the new year. All I can say is… Make it a great one! “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” – Edith Pierce
Have fun; laugh out loud; be kind to each other; learn, play, and don’t forget to invest time to plan your travels and important events in your life. Don’t worry and stress yourself. If you have set your goals for 2014 and are following your plan, it will all work out splendidly. So what is my promise to myself, my Family and my Team for 2014? Let’s Plan to Make This The Best Year Ever!
Ralph Harris, Editor