One Day

One day.

That’s all it takes.

One day is all it takes to cause tragedy or triumph.  One day is all it takes to change for the better – or the worse.

There’s been a lot of ‘One Days’ in my life.

One day, I saw the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building destroyed. One day, I watched the life drain out of a person’s body while I held their head.  One day, I watched the World Trade Center Buildings Destroyed.

One Day, I saw my niece Kiley born, and yet again..One Day I saw my niece Erica born.  One Day, I married my lovely wife.  That was a wonderful One Day.

One Day, I buried my grandmother and yet another One Day years later I buried my grandfather.  One Day this week, I found out a friend from high school passed away – RIP Junior.

One Day I graduated from college and later, another One Day I finished up grad school (two times).  One Day, I’ll finish my doctorate.

One Day, I had to lay off an employee.  There was another One Day where I had to lay other people off too..in fact there were many One Day’s where that’s happened. There was One Day where I went to the funeral of one of those men that I laid off. He died from injuries he suffered from an accident while driving to a job interview…I blame myself for that particular One Day. Rest in Piece Jim N.

I won’t bore you with more One Day stories from my life….but you get the drift.  These One Day moments happen all the time.

You see…we all have many “One Day” moments in our life.  These One Day events can be wonderful, terrible, happy or sad.  Are we prepared for that One Day when it happens?  Probably not…nobody can truly be prepared when some tragic accident occurs.

But…we can do our part to create the more memorable One Day events. You know those events I’m talking about.  The One Day when you are going to start your new business.  The One Day when you are going to lose weight. The One Day when you’ll start that something ‘new’.  The One Day you’ll finally be happy.

Recent tragic events like the earthquake / tsunami in Japan and the death and destruction happening in the middle east should make you realize that life is short and your One Day may not arrive.

So…why do we wait for the good One Day’s?  Why not make those One Day events happen now?  Why do we tell ourselves that ‘one day…I’ll lose weight’ or ‘one day…I’ll be happy’.  Don’t wait…make your One Day happen today.

That’s what Seth Godin talks about in his new book Poke the Box (amazon affiliate link).  He talks about starting something today….not waiting for One Day.  He talks about taking initiative today…not waiting for the One Day when someone gives you permission to do something.

I used to tell myself that One Day, I’d be doing what I wanted to do. One Day, I’d be in charge of my own destiny.   Well…I waited around for a long time waiting for those One Day’s to happen.

I got tired of waiting and started to make my own One Day’s a reality.  Have I reached my goals? Nope. Am I working toward them?  Yes…I am.  Have my One Day’s happened? Some have…some haven’t.

Don’t wait around for your One Day…you may find you waited too long.