I watched a movie last week with Shirley Maclaine entitled, The Last Word. In the movie, Shirley portrays Harriet Lauler, a wealthy advertising mogul who is forthright; always speaking her own mind whether it be brazen or brash. She is unapologetic no matter the recipient.
After a near-death experience, Harriet realizes that very few people, if any, would mourn by her death or attend her funeral. She set’s out to make things right and employs an obituary writer to write her obituary while she is still living. Harriet instructs the writer that to have lived a life worth remembering requires four things:
- U should be loved by family and friends.
- U should touch someone’s life in a significant way.
- U should live a life that is true. After finding her love of music, Harriet becomes a disc jockey. On air, she signs off the air with these words…”To my listeners… don’t have a nice day. Have a day that matters; have a day that is true and means something.”
- U should play your WILDCARD. A WILDCARD is whatever U are holding back from experiencing life fully.
Harriet then sets out to rewrite her own life and have the last word. In the process of enmeshing herself in her self-professed edicts of life, she is able to die without regret.
Do U play it safe? Are U concealing your WILDCARD? Are U holding out for the right time to play your WILDCARD?
Instead of holding back and waiting for the right moment, surprise others and yourself with who you are capable of becoming. Don’t conceal your skills, your ambitions, your dreams from yourself and others so that you can play them at a later time when it may be more convenient, less riskier, safer and easier to lay them out on the table for all to see. Use your WILDCARDS to their greatest advantage.
Why is it that U save the best for last; holding on to your WILDCARDS so as to have a contingency plan for use when all else fails?
Often U know what it is U want to do, but U still don’t do it. Why? Because, U are afraid of failure. U choose what is comfortable and familiar. Living in the moment just because the moment is safe isn’t really living. Maneuvering around every life risk and withholding your WILDCARDS because it is more comfortable and less scary certainly protects U from LOSS, FAILURE and DISAPPOINTMENT but it also prevents ACCOMPLISHMENT, SUCCESS and HAPPINESS.
Here’s the scoop. It’s never the right time to jump in with both feet. U may never have enough money, enough time, enough courage, or enough of anything else that U feel is necessary to meet your life’s goals and reach your dreams. U must learn to strike the right balance between risk and reward and the only way to do that is to experience life and weigh your risks as best U can. Risk nothing and U can expect a lower return on your life’s investment. Risk too much and lose everything U have planned. Hedge your bets and risk wisely in your skills, your ambitions and dreams and U will find your sense of purpose and that is reward enough no matter what anyone else thinks, feels or believes.
Never conceal or forego your dreams and the U you wish to become. LIVE ANDY PLAY YOUR WILDCARDS for all their worth, play them while U still can and U will find HAPPINESS AND FULFILLMENT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO! IT’S TIME TO PLACE YOUR BETS!
Fortune favors the bold.
