This morning as I was on facetime with my mom and about to walk out of my room to head to work, she asked: “Did you put cologne on?” to which I replied – Yes ma’am I did. Then she asked, “which one of the ones that I gave you is the one you wear the most? The one that you like the most?” To which I said -Actually mom, the one I like the most is the one I wear the least, you know… I’m just trying to save it for a special occasion. It didn’t take me more than 3 seconds to realize 2 things. First, why am wearing it the least if it is what I like the most. Second, I realized that I had my topic for today’s post.
Right after I hanged up with my mom, a quote that I had saved in my phone back when blackberry was a thing came to my mind, Immediately I googled it, and it is a quote that I’d like to share with you today.
I’ll do it later…
I’ll say it later…
I’ll call them Later…
We tend to leave everything for later. As if doing it later was better.
Why can’t we comprehend that:
Later Coffee gets cold.
Later your priorities change.
Later people get old.
Later day turns into night.
Later life ends.
Why are we waiting for tomorrow? What is it about tomorrow that today is lacking? We keep postponing our appointment with life, thinking that tomorrow we’ll be in better circumstances to show up, but reality is that tomorrow… well, there may not be a tomorrow. Little things like wearing your favorite cologne, putting on your favorite clothes even if it’s not a special occasion, and dancing in the kitchen by yourself. Are the things that will make your live have the spark that everyone seems to be looking for. I think our problem is that we are always missing something. I’ll ask her out when I’m in better shape, I won’t tell him I like him because I don’t want to seem too intense, when I get the promotion then I can slow down… Maybe by the time you are in better shape she would be dating a guy who was in worse shape than you because that’s not something she ever cared about. By the time you feel ready to tell him that you like him, he will be seeing someone else because he got tired of your lack of communication. Perhaps by the time you get ready to slow down, there won’t be no one by your side to enjoy that promotion you always wanted… Your friends will move, your kids will be grown, and your other half will be tired of waiting on you.
Back in the medieval time, there was this servant who was always happy. He would skip through the halls in the palace, he would bring the King’s food with a smile always painted on his face, and occasionally, you would see him dancing even to no music. The king wondered what was this servant’s secret? how can he be so happy? The king called him up to the west wing where his office was located, and once the servant walked in, the King asked: “What is your secret, why are you always so happy? To what the servant replied – Oh my good sir, there is no secret your majesty! I am just happy because I get to work at the palace, I bring enough home to support my family, and every once in a while your majesty will give me some coins as a reward for my royalty. The King couldn’t understand how somebody would be happy with so little, so he didn’t believe his servant. He figured he would go and talk to the wise man of the town and ask for the servant’s secret. He went up to the wise man and after explaining the situation the wise man replied: “Your majesty, this man is simply not a part of the 99 circle.” The 99 circle? -the king replied. Yes your majesty, I can show you what it is only if you are willing to sacrifice this servant’s happiness and in return you will discover his secret. – the wise man replied. The king eager to find the secret agreed, and they both headed to this servant’s house. As they were approaching the doorstep, the wise man took out from his garment a bag filled with gold coins and a handwritten note that said, “this is for you… take it inside and enjoy.” They left the sac filled with coins right at the entrance, knocked on the door and hid behind the bushes. The servant opened the door, picked up the sac, read the note and immediately closed the door. The King and the wise man were watching the servant through the window. As the servant opened the sac and spread the coins across the table, his face instantly glowed up. He started making stacks of 10 coins but when he got to the tenth stack, he noticed that instead of 10 coins he only had 9. Frustrated because he was missing 1 gold coin to complete 100, he took out pen and paper and did the math to figure out how long it would take him to get that one gold coin. Saving enough the servant realized that after 7 years he would have the money to get that one coin. He set his mind to accomplish the goal while the wise man and the King returned to the castle. About 2 weeks later the King noticed that the servant was not as happy as he used to be. There was no dancing, no singing, and no smile on his face anymore. After a year the king received some complaints from the people at the palace, they said that it had become impossible to work with this servant. He was always grumpy, always in a bad mood, and never stopped complaining. The King called the servant to his office and asked him what was going on. The servant told him that nothing was going on, he just didn’t have reasons to be happy anymore. After a while the servitude at the palace gave an ultimatum to the king. They said, “either you fire that servant, or we quit” so they King let him go.
Are we finding ourselves in the 99 circle? Waiting for something to happen so we can be happy? If you feel like you are in this circle. I want to invite you to press pause and remember that as you are reading this life is happening and today is the only certain that you have. Therefore, don’t wait, don’t leave it for later, remember that later… later life ends.
As always, I am thrilled to have an opportunity to be growing with every person that read these posts. My hope is that everyday we get to experience the freedom that Jesus gives us. Life with him is not perfect because that is not what he promises, but life with him is light, is joyful and is meaningful. If you don’t have a relationship with him, I want to encourage you to seek one. He will carry your burdens, your problems and the things that hurt you.