Prose from the Bucket List – Write On, Poet!

This life is my life. No one elses.
If this is so and if my life is mine and yours is yours, then we have to make this so. We have to make this work or else.
Or else what?
Or else we suffer the consequences of a life less-lived.

I have been pushing myself and using three small words which to me are huge.
Go. Be. And Do.
These three little words are power words. These are the words that build our life from the foundation up.
Go. Be. And Do.

I have used these words throughout my entire life. Better yet, we all have.
It’s impossible to calculate how many times these three little words come up in our daily conversation, let alone to figure how many times we’ve used these three words in our lifetime.
But how many times have we used these words in this context – to go, to be and to do, as if our life depended on it
(because it does).

I remember hearing something from a jailbird’s perspective.
This was an old friend from back in my old life, and from back when I was younger and far too lost to make sense of myself.
The suggestion was as follows: Do your time . . . don’t let your time do you.
This was said during a threat of possible incarceration to someone I knew.
I was just a kid at the time. I was young and confused, angry, somewhat hopeless and trying hard to pass off my trick as a rebel – but to be clear, I wasn’t a very good rebel.
To be rebellious, I suppose that one would have to have a cause or a purpose, or dammit all – at least to be a rebel, I suppose one should at least have a point.
I can’t say that I was pointless. I can’t say that I believed I was a rebel either.
I can’t say that I was just a lost or scared kid, misguided or misunderstood.
No, I believe there was more to this because I had passion.
But I was too scared to show it.
I had dreams. But I was too afraid to reach for them.

See what I mean about fear?
Haven’t I been telling you about this?
Fear is one hell of a culprit!

My youth had challenges that were never explained to me. At least, nothing was ever explained in a way that I was able to retain or understand.
I had learning disabilities that were never diagnosed nor handled properly. I had depression, which is obvious to me now because while I knew what the word “Depression” meant, I didn’t know that what I had or what I was living with could be surmised in one simple word.
How could it be?
How could anything be explained in a simple way when all else seems so complicated or complex?

Either way – the saying works.
Do your time.
Don’t let your time do you.

It’s true.
Everyone does time. This doesn’t have to mean incarceration.
Everyone has to do time at a place or somewhere that is otherwise unenjoyable.
We all have to intermingle with people we don’t like.
We have to work.
And work is not always fun or pretty.
We have to overcome adversity.
All of us have our own challenges.
I say this because the one thing about life is no one escapes unscathed.
Everyone gets a few bumps and bruises or scratches and scars. 

But that’s the time we do.
Work is tough – So what?
Keep it going and improve your mindset.
Home life is tough?
Are you tired?
I heard a great suggestion about this –
If you’re tired, then take yourself up to bed. Get some sleep. Get some rest and we’ll try again tomorrow.
I like that idea.

There is no such thing as a perfect life yet our perfection exists in more ways than we can possibly think.
We can go, be and do at any given moment.
We can dream. We can take on a new hobby.
We can consider art or photography, which is on my list of things to do.
We can look into museums.
We can go to a concert and listen to a different genre of music, just to hear the different side of another culture and sit back and smile. 

I have never been to the ballet.
But I would go.
I have only been to one opera.
But I would go again.
I was never good with a camera.
But I would try this or see if I could snap a few photos of life from my perspective
(or yours).
I have been playing around with the pots and pans in my kitchen.
And I’ve been doing okay – so far.
I can cook a few things now.
The menu grows because my love grows too.

The idea is to be open to the change and open to the experience.
But to me, I want to go, be and do which allows me to be open to my next best life.
In other words, this allows me to do my time instead of letting my time do me.

If this is your life, then you have to make it yours.
Claim it.
Claim it like you love it.
Claim it like your thirst would claim a glass of water if you were stuck in the desert.
Claim it like a predator would claim its prey after not eating for days.

Go at it.
Be who you choose
Do what you dream.
Do not negotiate or compromise your passion for a less-than or lower value.

As for me?
Know what I say?
I say never let anyone write your story for you.
Never . . .

Even if this is written with admiration or aspiration or in a way of praise, never let anyone write your story for you because there will never be anyone that can tell it like you can.
Believe me.

No one knows your heart better than you.
No one else in the world knows where you stand or what you went through.
No one knows your secrets nor do they understand the maps of your thinking.
But you do.
Some people relate and some may have been where you’ve come from. I can understand that, Some people may have a similar background or close to it. Some understand you and others will need an explanation and that’s fine.

Some will tell you, “I’ve been there too,” and this might be the case.
But 10lbs in one hand feels different than 10lbs in another.
The weight of the world on my shoulders is the weight I carry.
The same can be said for you because the weight on your shoulders is yours. And be advised: strength is relative. Struggle is relative and more to the point, life is relative.

Do your time.
Don’t let your time do you.

So, leave nothing up to interpretation. Spell it out and tell your story like it is.
Tell your story as it relates to you.
Write it and write on and never stop.
Even if the pen breaks or if the computer crashes, and the printer breaks or it’s out of ink – write on until your story is told.
Say what you need to say.
Speak loudly and clearly.
Make no apologies and never let fear direct your voice. 

Never leave your life in the hands or the judgment of someone else.
Unless they are your soulmate – but that’s a different story.
Or as they say in combat sports, “Never leave it up to the judges.”
Never leave anything untold, unfinished or unwritten.
You owe this to yourself to finish what you’ve started.
So go, be and do. Remember?
Do your time.
Don’t let your time do you.

No one will ever have your drive to do what you need to do . . .
No one will ever have your vision.
No one can tell what you can tell –
Don’t tell me that this isn’t good enough because this is perfect.
This is what gives us the gift of being perfectly unique.

Even if someone else has your same dream, no one will ever have your same desire to achieve it. 
And I know it’s tough to fit in.
It’s tough to get along with the petty little rules.
I know it’s hard to stand in line and wait your turn – meanwhile, you start counting the hours you’ve waited (which seem like days or maybe even months) and you look around to see who waits ahead of you – it sucks, I know.
You count how many people will go before you and you ask yourself, “When is it my turn?”
When am I next? 
These are great questions to ask.

And so . . .
you wait and you wonder, you simmer until you boil.
But that’s good. It’s good if you boil over.
That’s fire.
That’s an expression of your desire in your heart. When your desire outweighs the excuses and your drive outweighs the reasons you never tried or dared to go, be or do before, and at last you’re fed up or you can’t stand to let another minute go by . . .
This is when you’ll explode and make your move.

This is when you’ll change gears and then you’re in.
Then you’re up on deck.
You’re in the batter’s box and here it is, your turn to “knock it out of the park” so-to-speak and say all of those things you’ve always wanted to say.
It’s your turn to do what you’ve dreamed.
This is your moment. It’s your time now, so swing for the fences.
That’s what I say.
This is what it means to go, to be and to do.

Tell your story. Tell the world how it was, how it is and how it will be from here on in.  
Write your story now or start a new chapter.
Never let anyone write it for you. 
But once you start the story – don’t quit.
Keep going.

Don’t stop and don’t ever forget the passion it took to get you to where you are right now.
Else, you’ll be damned to repeat the process or find yourself lost in the abandonment of complacent mediocrity.

Never forget your drive because your drive is what distinguishes you from anyone else. Your drive is what keeps you from the norm, the mundane, the average and the boring. 
So write on, poet
and never leave anything unsaid.

Ready?
Set?
GO! BE! And DO!

Do your time.
Don’t let your time do you.

That’s today’s item on my bucket list.
How about you?