When you get to Peter’s gate, or you’re about to get handed a shovel to scoop coal in hell, just decay in the ground or be reincarnated as a jack rabbit in south Texas, or whatever you believe happens to you when you pass on… will you look back and say, “Well, I’ve done about everything I wanted to do in life, it’s been full and rewarding, so I guess it’s time to go? Think about that one.

So, what do you want to do? Sky dive? See the Grand Canyon? Visit Norway? Scuba for treasure off the coast of Florida? Visit an old friend or relative you haven’t seen for years? Many people sit around and think about things like that… but most never go for it. There are a hundred excuses why they don’t, usually money, time, too lazy, don’t know how to start or just put it off… indefinitely.

Here’s the deal- Wanting to do something you’ve always wanted to do and NOT doing it, can really be a depressive sub-conscious drag on your life. Whereas PLANNING and looking forward to doing some of these things can give you something happy to look forward to in life… and make you a happier person.

Think about this. When you wake up in the morning with something you are looking forward to; you seem to have more energy and are in a positive mood for the day. The same goes for having a long-range trip or new experience to look forward to.

Have I just been lucky? Sure… But a person can make their own luck too. Work your rear off, get a good education and you end up with a good paying job, that’s making your luck. Planning trips and doing adventures helps you make new friends, see new places and have a lot of interesting things to share with friends… Some of which will say to themselves, “boy they’re lucky” so make your own luck!

Darlene and I made many, many motorcycle trips all over the country (before we even had enough money to do it) and the adventures were unforgettable! Once and a while we ate dust, got hailed on, rained on, drove in temperatures of 37 degrees and as high as 109 degrees. Most of the time… we were lucky. But we made most of our luck planning and watching the weather and if we saw clouds ahead, we’d wait it out or go around it. See what I am getting at? It’s kind of like…If you check your tires before a trip, you will have a better chance of NOT having “bad luck” and having a flat tire 100 miles from nowhere. Or another example might be: Dress up cool, take a bath, buy your mate a gift, dinner and maybe a movie…you’ll stand a better chance of getting lucky.

So, I hit a big slot machine jackpot several years ago and made a lot of money, well… If I hadn’t made the decision to gamble, I wouldn’t have hit it big would I? So I guess I made my own luck there. Now, if I would have made the decision to spend all of my paychecks every week on gambling and lost everything I had… I still would have been making my own luck.

Back to the original thought: DO SOMETHING in life, “go for it”, accomplish something, make your own luck, have fun, and set some good examples for others. Make plans to accomplish some of the things you want to do in life. Make that “Bucket List” and start in on it… THEN, when the end is near, you will have something to look back at, and hopefully… something to look forward to… one final adventure in your life.

Tom “Road” Blair

Website: www.tomroadblair.com