R.A.D.I.C.A.L. Thoughts

"No excuses. No regrets." ~ Anonymous

There are all kinds of new beginnings in life. Some we dread. Some we look forward to with excitement and perhaps a little nervous anticipation. My midlife divorce was a new beginning of the first type: Dread. My youngest son yesterday was handed a new beginning as a college graduate. A beginning of the second type: Excited anticipation. As I was preparing a “memory binder” for him with memorabilia from birth through high school, I came across one of his cross country team mottos: No excuses. No regrets. (He, by the way, was the winner of the Kansas 6A high school Cross Country Championship!) The “no excuses. No regrets.” life is what we should all strive for. That’s how we should live every single day. We have a new beginning every single morning and we should grab the new day, whatever we are facing, with gusto and gratefulness for another day. I think we should all live life a bit on the edge… boldly, fearlessly and with a sense of adventure. (Why should the kids have all the fun?) We need to discover our BIG purpose for being on this earth and then go for it … no matter what that “it” is! As I told my son, “believe in yourself and what you choose to do. Don’t be afraid to make honest mistakes. Try to avoid them, but don’t live too cautiously. Have fun!” We should all be just as excited about our new life as college graduates are about theirs. We have the whole rest of our life ahead! Don’t squander this opportunity. Step out of your comfort zone. Dream big! Write "Happy Graduation" in your daily planner at the top of the page in honor of your new stage, then appreciate and embrace this glorious, amazing, wild gift of new life!!!

“No dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,” Philippians 3:13