Life is a gift that has been given to you. It is in your hands to make the best of it … dare to believe you can.

Through the ups and downs, you’ll find a lesson to learn and make you a better person.

Each experience … good and bad, makes you grow. Get along with life and surely, things will become easier for you. Create the future. It is not some place we are going, but one we are creating.

Most importantly, live for today and enjoy every moment. Capture the best that life has to offer and help others.

Because, as Mandela once said, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Service to others, Nelson Mandela believed, should not be defined as a one-time action.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” Dalai Lama

Look at the actions of your life and ask yourself “is this who I want to be?”

1. Write down any addictions or behaviors distracting you from being your best self.

2. Look at your list of behaviors and addictions and ask yourself the question: “Which of these can I reasonably eliminate or reduce in order to be my better self?”

3. Make a decision to eliminate and/or reduce.

4. Now ask yourself: “What are one or two healthy things can I do to replace the old behavior and move my life forward in a big way?”

5. Make a list of these possible new behaviors (e.g. yoga, meditation, a new class, a new hobby or skill, etc.).

6. Now take the necessary steps to eliminate the old behavior and replace it with the new, healthy habit.

7. Repeat these steps on a continual basis.

“Today is life — the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.” Dale Carnegie

At our death beds, we will inevitably know that much didn’t work out, that there were dreams that didn’t come to pass and loves that were rejected, friendships that could never be repaired, and catastrophes and hurts we never overcame.

But we will also know that there were threads of value that sustained us, that there was a higher logic we sometimes followed, that despite the agonies, our lives were not mere sound and fury; that in our own way, at select moments at least, we did properly draw benefit from, and understand, the meaning of life.