CHATS WITH PAT: Would of, Could of, Should of | Ep. 52
Isn't it true that if our past is behind us, and we aren't guaranteed tomorrow, then all we really have is today? We don’t want to be knocking on death's door with a bunch of “should of’s”, “could of’s”, or “would of’s” about our life. So each of us wakes up with the gift every day to choose to focus on the journey and not necessarily the final destination.
Our prolific guest on the “No Grey Areas” podcast last week, Larry Osborne, said it best: “What is the right thing for you to do today”? Now it is time for you to marinate on that question…
In this segment of CHAT WITH PAT, Patrick McCalla gives a profound message on the value of time, and what that means for how you and I live out each day.
Be sure to go back and listen in to Pat’s latest interview with Larry Osborne titled "Habits of Good Decision Making."
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https://youtu.be/xMMIW2Iku14
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The NO GREY AREAS platform is about the power, importance, and complexity of choices. We host motivating and informative interviews with captivating guests from all walks of life about learning and growing through our good and bad choices.
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Transcript
Speaker 1
Have you ever met anyone who dreams of getting to the end of their life with a lot of regrets? A lot of would have. Could have. Should have. Of course not. No one dreams of one day sitting at death's door and thinking, Oh, I would have done that, but I could have done that. But I should have done that.
::Speaker 1
But. So it begs the question, how do you and I live in such a way today that we can avoid some day sitting with regrets of would have, could have, should have. I want to share two things focusing on time and focusing on the journey, not just the destination. Recently we had Larry Osborne, a prolific speaker, author, a leader.
::Speaker 1
He's written over ten books about leadership and discipleship. And in the discussion with Larry, he and I were talking about the power of human choice and how it's really a double edged sword. There's been a lot of beauty historically that's come out of the fact that humans can choose our destiny and can make our destinies in a lot of ways.
::Speaker 1
But double edged sword. There's also been a lot of pain, death and destruction because of that. But in my discussion with Larry Osborne, he broke everything down that the complexity of human choice into one simple, concise phrase. Larry simply said this. What is the right thing for you to do today? Focus on time. I want you to imagine for a moment that your life is represented by this sand timer and and you can recognize that all the sand that's piling up at the bottom represents your past.
::Speaker 1
Some of us I'm in my fifties now. I have a larger pile of sand down there than some of you perhaps do. The sand on the top represents your future. And some of you may look at that and go, Well, I have a lot more sand up there than Pat because I'm in my fifties. Maybe you're in your twenties or thirties.
::Speaker 1
The truth is, you and I actually don't know how much we have up top there. Here's what we can control. We can't change this and we don't know how much we have this. The only thing we know is what's right here in the middle. The sand in the middle. So let me show you how this works. When should I start?
::Speaker 1
Now, remember, this is the past. You can't control what you've done in the past. You can't control all the times you've quit. You can't control all the times you've put off starting. The sand in top represents the future. You may go. Well, I'll start next week or I'll start next month. Or I'll start next year. But you actually don't know whether you have next week or next month or next year.
::Speaker 1
The only thing that you and I can control is the sand in the middle. So when should you start? Right now. Today, focus on time, but focus on the journey, not just the destination. We've all probably heard the principle. Start with the end in mind. In other words, what are your goals? What is. What are. What are your dreams?
::Speaker 1
Who do you want to become? One of the best ways that I've actually heard to live this out, live with the end in mind is to imagine that you're in your casket at your funeral, and you hear those people coming up and standing in front of your casket and saying just a couple of sentences. What would you want them to say about you?
::Speaker 1
What do you want your spouse to say about you? What do you want your kids to say about you? What do you want your friends and coworkers to say about you? What do you want God to say about you in that moment? It's one of the best ways I've ever heard about learning and figuring out and identifying how you can live with the end in mind.
::Speaker 1
- But let me just caution us, as good as that sounds, to live at the end in mind. Some of us, especially those of us that are so goal oriented, need to slow down a little bit. We need to pause and we need to remember to to to enjoy the journey, not just the destination.
::Speaker 1
Because remember, if this represents your life, you can't change the past. You don't know how much time you have in the future. The only thing you can control is the sand in the middle. And so I caution some of us that are so glaring and we're living up here all the time. To step down here and enjoy the journey.
::Speaker 1
Let me summarize all of this by a mantra phrase that my wife and I started to use with each other and and to ourselves several years ago. We started to remind each other live in the moment. Listen, I know you've heard this before. I know you've heard this before, but please, please, please, please, please hear me. You can't change what's down here.
::Speaker 1
You don't know what you have up there. All you have is right now, this moment.
::Speaker 2
Live in the moment.
