Your Landscape

On Sunday November 4th I had the great opportunity to  walk across the stage and accept my diploma.  I am now a college graduate with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management.  It was a long time in coming.  I started attending college right after I graduated high school, but I allowed life to get in the way.  I did not have my priorities straight.  Funny how our priorities become more focused as we get older.  But we cannot recapture time, we can only do our best with the time we have left. What's on your 'to do' list? I believe that everyone of us has at least one thing we wish we had done and now believe it is too late.  This phenomenon is especially true for those of us who are older.  I have always admired people who have stepped out and 'gone for it'.  They stepped out on faith, willing to risk losing everything, or at least losing quite a bit, in order to meet that goal.  I will ask you again: what's on your 'to do' list?
Don't worry about the people who tell you it's too late.  Our commencement speaker said something that will stick with me forever.  He said 'haters are a part of the landscape.'  I never thought about it like that.  We will always have naysayers, people who genuinely do not want to see us hurt, people who think they will look bad if you look good, and people who for their own low self-esteem can't stand to see others succeed.  I believe most of us can tell the difference between these people.  Regardless of the reasons friends and family may try to stop us, we have to decide for ourselves what we really  want out of our lives.  We have to take the risk that we may lose some people along the way.  Some of those people may come back once you have met your goals, some may never come back.  You have to decide if you want to live a status quo, go along to get along life, or if you want everything God has for you. 
I know a couple who when most people their age are thinking about retirement have moved to another continent to become missionaries.  My father, who is in his early 70's, has just published his third book.  I admire these people.  They don't believe in making excuses.  Life is too short for excuses. 
What has God put on your heart to do with your life?  Nothing worth having is easy.  The process will not be easy.  There will be many sleepless  nights, aggravation with the process, fears of not finishing, negative self-talk, and haters, but keep going.  No one can take away the feeling of success when you touch that finish line.  No one can take that thing away from you that you have achieved or obtained. 
Step out! Step up! Go for it!