If Today Was Your Last Day

This song from Nickelback always inspires me to think about the things I need to do today, instead of worry about what I need/want to do tomorrow, or what I should/could have done yesterday. Too much we get caught up in our not-wanted pasts and hoped-for futures and forget about the needed todays.

My best friend gave me the best advice.

He said each day's a gift and not a given right.
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind,
And try to take the path less traveled by.

That first step you take is the longest stride.

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have?

If today was your last day.

Against the grain should be a way of life.

What's worth the prize is always worth the fight.

Every second counts 'cause there's no second try.

So live like you'll never live it twice.

Don't take the free ride in your own life.

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have?

Would you call old friends you never see?

Reminisce of memories.

Would you forgive your enemies?

Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?

Swear up and down to God above

That you finally fall in love.

If today was your last day.

If today was your last day

Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?

You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars

Regardless of who you are.

So do whatever it takes

'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life.

Let nothin' stand in your way

Cause the hands of time are never on your side.

If today was your last day

and tomorrow was too late

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?

Leave old pictures in the past

Donate every dime you have?

Would you call old friends you never see?

Reminisce of memories

Would you forgive your enemies?

Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?

Swear up and down to God above

That you finally fall in love

If today was your last day.

Enemy of My Soul

Approaches, the enemy of my soul.

Sword in hand I prepare to fight.

Lunges forward, the adversary of my soul

To send my spirit to the darkness of the night.

CHING! CLASH! BASH! SHANK!

Pierces my skin, the master of the night.

He steps back as I observe the wound.

The enemy thinks he has won the fight.

Lunging at him I strike. CHING!

He blocks my attack as I keep up the fight.

This adversary will never win the battle.

For I will fight with all my might!

CHING! STAB! PUSH! CLASH!

Striking down the enemy, I thrust

My Sword of Righteousness, THRASH!

The enemy falls to the ground, like he must.

I turn away and start to walk away,

Thinking I have won the war.

I see movement and hear him say,

“I am stronger than you! I have more power!”

At first I fought a man with cunning ways.

Now I face a monster that won’t ever stop.

At first I thought evil could be defeated.

Now I know my sword must never drop.

The CHING of battle must always be heard.

As long as I live, so does the master of the night.

Every sunrise will always be followed by a sunset.

Every day will always be followed by night.

Tho’ I get beat down, and torn apart,

My soul will forever endure the call.

Tho’ the enemy of my soul will never depart,

My Sword of Righteousness will never fall.

Welcome to Wherever You Are

I always love this song whenever I listen to it. It always applies to my life in so many ways.

Welcome to Wherever You are
by Bon Jovi

Maybe we're all different, but we're still the same.

We all got the blood of Eden running through our veins.

I know sometimes it's hard for you to see.

You're caught between just who you are and who you want to be.

If you feel alone and lost and need a friend,

Remember every new beginning is some beginning's end.

  

   Welcome to wherever you are.

   This is your life, you've made it this far.

   Welcome, you got to believe

   That right here, right now

   You're exactly where you're supposed to be.

   Welcome to wherever you are.

When everybody's in and you're left out,

And you feel you're drowning in the shadow of a doubt.

Everyone's a miracle in their own way.

Just listen to yourself, not what other people say.

When it seems you're lost, alone and feeling down,

Remember everybody's different, just take a look around.

   Welcome to wherever you are.

   This is your life, you've made it this far.

   Welcome, you got to believe

   Right here, right now,

   You're exactly where you're supposed to be.

Be who you want to be.

Be who you are.

Everyone's a hero.

Everyone's a star.

When you want to give up and your heart's about to break,

Remember that you're perfect, God makes no mistakes.

   Welcome to wherever you are.

   This is your life, you've made it this far.

   Welcome, you got to believe

   Right here, right now

   You're exactly where you're supposed to be,

And I say welcome.

I say welcome.

Welcome.

Cast Out, Reel In

Just after graduating from high school in 2006 I went through one of the hardest times of my life. I got attached to a girl. Then I had to let her go because we both knew it wasn't the right time... but I didn't want to let go. I let myself get so attached that I thought it was impossible to let go. It has taken some time to learn from that mistake, and I have learned that there is a time and a season to all things. If a rose is picked not bloomed, it will most likely never bloom. Because I love expressing myself in writing, this is the poem that was formed while I was caught up in the emotion of this struggle.

Cast out, reel in. Catch, and now begin.

I caught something. I don’t know what it was.

I held onto it, just to see what it’d do.

It grew.

All the time wondering, wishing,

                            Wanting, waiting.

It was all a blur.

                             In my hand I held so pure.

Green was its color.

                                 What to do with, I did not know.

Words I knew not how to say.

All the things I’d ever done,

When it ended, it begun;

For when I grabbed on – so gently; and painfully – it slipped away.

I held on, I did, thinking it was still there.

Only it was not. Only thin air.

The rain it burned.

The fire it churned.

All that’s left is the scar created.

Something not intended but something meant to be.

Something I thought could never happen

To someone like me.

Holding on I am? Yes – for my hand is stuck –

                               To the feeling- to the pain,

The pain of this life.

The pain that’s meant to live.

My hand is frozen. So cold, so hard.

Life has a cold weather to give.

What’s held onto and gone,

Without rhythm, without time;

What’s left broken without song,

Is without music, without rhyme.

I find myself thinking, wondering,

                            Wishing, waiting,

Thinking of what there is to be.

Wondering, for why is this done to me?

Waiting for someone to hold my hand.

Someone, something to fill this pain inside.

Someone to walk into my land.

Emptiness is all that’s left now.

I’m tired of searching for something that fills

This hole, this emptiness, this misery that kills.

For I’m looking, but I can’t find,

Not only something, but reason.

No. It’s impossible to find.

The words echoed in my mind.

Like a poison it burns.

         Green is the color it has

Sweet misery is the name she’s earned.

              Green is the color she has.

Still in me she is.

                 And forever she will be.

For letting go of this love I’ve found –

                 This love grown on me –

Is impossible, it’s not worth it.

            It’s not worth it to me.

What I caught, what I see is

All that’s meant to be.

I held on just to see what it’d do;

It grew, it grew… on me.

I am now so very sure

               That the time, the reason,

                 The thoughts, the feelings,

I held so pure,

Are there with reason;

Are there for sure.

Forest, Rain, River, Pain,

Mountain, Thunder, Misery, Gain.

Life leads somewhere up above the trees.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Time must always last longer.

What I hold, what life needs,

This misery,                  This thunder,

                                         This rain,                        This pain,

Everything happens for a reason;

                     It’s mystery we feed,

Looking for reason, that’s what we people need.

So precious, so pure,

             It hurts to cure.

I hold onto this misery, this life,

                            This pain, this history,

Because letting go would be,

                          Nothing but catastrophe.

No pain, No gain is what I always say.

It’s the way the Lord would have it;

                           Truly the only way;

The way to success; the way to sight.

The way to Eternity; the way to light.