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Friday, March 19, 2010

The Two-Minute Warning

It is interesting to watch football teams on a Sunday afternoon. They spend the first fifty-eight minutes routinely following the game plan they thought would result in victory. Then something rather remarkable happens. An official walks onto the center of the field and announces what has come to be known as the "Two-Minute Warning."

What happens the following one hundred and twenty seconds is frequently awesome. We often witness more intensity, more cleverness, more expended energy and more action compacted into those two final minutes that occurs in the previous fifty-eight. Why?
A sudden awareness of the sense of imminent defeat, and the birth of a new and sharpened sense of urgency. The players know that the clock will show no favoritism. The clock will merely do what a clock does: it will tick away the seconds until the game is finally over.

Same with the human life. We have the potential and the opportunity to outscore "ourselves" early in the game. But sometimes, despite our intentions, we the players make only an average effort until it is too late. The seconds slip into minutes, and the minutes into hours, and the hours into days until we awaken one morning to discover that the moments of opportunity are gone. We spend our final years reliving dreams that might have been, regretting all that never was and now never will be.
Most are afraid to leave this earth with their music still in them, having not ever lived. When the game of life is finally over, there is no second chance to correct our errors. The clock that is ticking away the moments of our lives does not care about winners and losers. It does not care about who succeeds or who fails. It does not care about excuses, fairness or equality. The only essential issue is how we played the game.

We must challenge ourselves right now with a new level of thinking, and drive ourselves toward a new level of achievement. We must impose upon ourselves a new discipline, and develop a new attitude about life that motivates us and inspires others.

Have you ever found yourself at the end of the month, working yourself like the "Two Minute Warning?" How about at the end of the year? Have you ever asked yourself where did all the time go?

I would love to hear some of your comments. What did YOU do to change that?

2 comments:

  1. Very appropriate post Shannon! This is true for all humans living on planet earth today. So many changes are taking place so fast. In fact, it's been documented that even time is moving faster.
    The great thing about changes happening faster is that opportunity is all around us, but to catch it, we must keep up with the changes.
    Yes, Now is the right time...it is the Opportune time!
    Great post! Thank you for sharing. :)
    Aloha,
    Kellie

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  2. Thank you Kellie,
    I appreciate your comments. Yes, time is moving very fast and the thrill of learning and allowing more of who I already am to come forth keeps me enjoying the game called life. Today I have absolute faith that my dreams are true.

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