How many opportunities are we going to miss to do something extraordinary with our lives?
Photo credit: Joel Bombardier (Creative Commons)
A few weeks ago I was playing a game with my six-year-old son Kyle. This was a rare event – because he’s six, he’d much rather wrestle with me, color with his crayons, ride his bike, or play with his little brother. But for a little while, we played together. It was so much fun. At first.
I explained how the game worked. I explained that we would take turns and after I went, he’d go next. And like most six-year-olds, he soon got distracted. I had to keep reminding him It’s your turn.
This went on for a while. As I became a little frustrated with having to keep reminding him that it was his turn, I started to think about all of the games I’ve played were I also wasn’t paying attention. Then I realized that when it comes to playing games, there’s two kinds of people in this world:
1. Those who don’t realize it’s their turn and
2. Those who can’t wait for it to be their turn
And it’s not just the games we play with our friends and family. This applies to the game of life, too.
Those who don’t realize that it’s their turn.
Some will never realize that it’s their turn. They’d much rather complain about their life and blame others. The world is unfair. Their job is unfair. Their landlord is unfair. Life is unfair. They had a chance once, when they were younger maybe, but they missed it and they think they’ll never be given another shot. But they do have that second chance – right now – they just don’t realize it. Every day they choose to go to a job that they hate in a career that’s dead or dying or they stay in a relationship that’s not good for them instead of putting in the extra time and effort to find something better. If they only spent the same amount of energy on doing something different instead of complaining, they could actually change their life. But they don’t. It’s not their turn yet, they think.
Those who can’t wait for it to be their turn.
Some can’t wait for their turn. They’re competitive. They don’t just know the hand that they were dealt, but they know everyone else’s as well. While all of the other players are trying to figure out their next move, those waiting for their turn have already played out the next three moves in their head. In life, they’re ready for the next big thing to happen to them. What they don’t realize is that they need to happen to it. They no longer have to wait. News isn’t broken by Brian Williams anymore. It’s broken by anyone who has a Twitter account. There are no more gatekeepers. Those who can’t wait for their turn could change everything today if they tried. They could be game changers. But instead, they wait patiently for it to be their turn and don’t see that it already is.
I don’t know which one of these you are. I don’t know if you’re the super competitive type or if you’re still asleep. But I do know that every day that you choose to do something other than what you feel that you’re called to do, you’re not only stagnant, you’re going in the opposite direction.
It’s time to wake up. It’s your turn and all eyes are on you. Will you make your move?