Start Today
Joseph J. Mazzella

  

"What can you do when you have done nothing but mess up your whole life long?"  These were the words I heard when I turned on the television the other day.   They were coming from one of the talk shows that are so popular on television these days.  I started to turn the channel but the words I had heard made me stop for an instant.  I looked at the speaker of them.  He couldn't have been more than eighteen years old, but already he was writing off his life as a useless waste.

I wanted to yell back at him:  "You're not dead yet!"

It is so sad that so many people cannot get beyond their pasts and live in the present.  There are so many people like that talk show guest.  There are people still in their teen years thinking that their lives are over.  There are people in their twenties who already feel like they have missed the boat to success and happiness.  There are people in their thirties and forties who sit around moaning that life has passed them by.  I want to shout to them all:  "Wake up!  You're still alive!  What have you done today?"

If you want a happy life you can't dwell on your past mistakes.  If you want joy and love in your life you have to choose them today.  God gives us a new chance at life every time we wake up in the morning.  It is up to us to seize it.

Today can be the beginning of a new life for each of us.  We can choose joy right now.  We can share love today.  We can live in delight starting at this moment.  It doesn't matter how miserable our past has been.  Our present can be full of joy and our future can be full of happiness.  It doesn't matter if we are eight or eighty--we can still make our lives wonderful.  Life isn't over until your last heartbeat.  Start today, then, to make your heart beat with joy, love, and light.
  


 
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Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.