Happy Sunday Everyone-
I was out of town last weekend for one of my college best friend’s 50th birthday in Mexico. 6 couples we hadn’t seen in some time, those friendships where you get back to 30 years ago in 15 minutes. I’m on the plane sitting next to one of my buddies catching up on life, laughing, and he just stopped, looked at me, and said “you know we only got one shot at this”. I said, “what do you mean”, he said “life, we only got one shot at this”. You could take this and go two ways with it. You can say big picture BS thoughts, or you can soak it in and consider the comment “we only got one shot at this” and what it means. I chose the latter, we do in fact have one shot at this life and if you take a few minutes (hopefully longer) to consider what it means it can freak you out, or it can grant you a certain level of peace. It’s been on my mind ever sense. I’m not going to switch gears every time I hear something, read something, write something, or watch something, but this statement is worth considering.
The statement is going to mean something different to everyone reading this, but I can all but guarantee there is a direct correlation to the impact of the thought to your age. My 30-year-old self would put this Sunday thoughts as a “whatever”, my almost 50-year-old self puts it as a “holy crap”, the clock is ticking. It’s not so much as a “what have I done with my life”, or “I need to sell everything and move to Mexico to enjoy the rest of my life”, it’s more of a mindset. I’m happy with who I am, I’m proud of who I am, I’m appreciative of so much in my life, but I can’t say I carry the mindset of “we’ve only got one shot at this” as often as I need to, which should be always. It has very little to do with accomplishments, check boxes, titles, or dollars, but more to do with a realization of where you place the importance of what is coming at you daily and how you respond or react to all of it. A “we only have one shot at this” mindset takes the governor off how I handle my business, personally and professionally. I was going to say it’s refreshing, but its more than that, its liberating, its freeing. You don’t dip your toe in water with a “we’ve only got one shot at this” mindset, you jump all in, or you don’t. Reminds me of a great quote I heard from someone crushing life “Everything I do in my life is a hell yes or a f$%k no”.
No clue if this makes sense to you. I’ve spent enough time thinking about it that it makes perfect sense to me. I like the idea of taking the governor off what I’m capable of doing, what I’m capable of being. The people I know who have taken advantage of the most life has to offer have this mindset. When you get to the finish line with a “we only got one shot at this” mindset, it means you left nothing in the tank. If you choose to live this way daily, it doesn’t matter when go.