F*ck yeah!…or No!

F*ck yeah!…or No! (The only decision you have to make)

Today is Memorial Day, a day when we take time to honor the courage and valor of our country’s finest. We remember those who stepped into the unknown, who put the needs and dreams of this amazing country ahead of any of their own. These men and women made conscious decisions to spend time defending people they would never meet, in a foreign land, without their families, creature comforts, and homes, and without even knowing if they’d make it back alive.

As I ponder their selfless sacrifices, I am reminded of how damn precious time is. It is humanity’s true nonrenewable resource. And in the grand scope of things, we are given far too little. Consider your life, for a moment, if you will. Reflect on the the limited time you are given, juxtaposed with the infinite amount, available to our universe. If the “big bang” created our universe, and if our universe is ever-expanding (which it is), then there will come a time when it reaches its outer limits, when the force of gravity will rival velocity, when gravity’s pull finally stops the planets, speeding through space. And when that occurs, our universe will contract. Things will begin to pull together again, and for billions of years, our universe will shrink. Planets will collide into enormous black holes, which will gobble up matter until nothing is left. And when the gravity inside that enormous black hole reaches a certain threshold, the entire cycle will repeat itself. That single point (the singularity, it is called) will create the largest explosion imaginable, and the entire pattern will begin anew.

And do you know what’s even crazier than that?

How many times it has happened already…

This could be the billionth time the world has expanded and contracted. Who knows? My point to this (and I swear I have one) is to try to remember how precious time is. We are but grains of sand on a beach, specks of dust, and we would live richer lives if we remembered that.

So what do I mean when I say “F*ck Yeah! Or No!?

In very simple terms, I mean this: refuse to settle for mediocrity. Safeguard your time. Protect it from others. What if you envisioned your time as money? Would you spend it as frivolously as you might be spending it now? Next time you’re asked to spend a denomination of your precious time, take a moment to examine your innermost feelings. Does that investment engender excitement and passion? Do you genuinely want to make the investment? If you don’t, then your answer should—and must be—NO. Time is too precious to settle for indifference.

I have a good friend who once told me this: “I don’t have time for people I don’t enjoy.” Sounds harsh, right? Perhaps a little cold? No. It isn’t. In fact, it’s right on the money. We spend far too many hours, days, weeks, and possibly years donating our time to things we don’t enjoy. If you make a commitment to one particular thing, you are closing the door to something else. By saying “yes” to something, you are, in effect, saying “no” to something else. And if that is true (which I promise you it is), then doesn’t a “passion litmus test” make sense? The next time you receive an invitation to go somewhere, to attack a project, or to perform a certain task, ask yourself this very important question: Do you want to do it? Are you saying “f*ck yeah”?

Because if you aren’t, the answer is No.