As Dr. Walter Sims turns 50, he reflects on the hands of time.
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We ask our fellowship (of The Dr. Walter Sims radio show) a question for our weekly Tuesday show. The question this past week was, If you could turn back the hands of time, would you have done anything differently? The overwhelming response: I would have been more serious about my life when I was younger (e.g. taken school more seriously, my relationship with my significant other, been wiser with my money).
This got me thinking about my upcoming birthday on June 6, what I have accomplished, and the path I have chosen.
Be more serious—sooner!
I was talking to a friend about this and she said she was ridiculed as a youngster because she was so serious at a young age. Many of us grew up being told to not be so serious when you are young, enjoy yourself, you will be old one day.
But what many of our responders gave as their answer to the question was, they should have been more serious about their life. For example, my cohost said he should have taken school much more seriously than he did. He could have become an actor (one of his friends is a lead character in a television series right now.) He said he squandered a great number of opportunities because he was not serious enough.
I didn’t start really getting serious until seven years ago when I started my motivational speaking/spiritual life coaching business. The danger of not being as serious as you need to be is you simply miss out of a number of potentially life-changing experiences. This leads to regrets later in life.
Figure out who and what you are as soon as you can!
I shared with a fifth-grade graduation class a keynote address titled, Dare To Be You. My main message to these youngsters was to find out who you are as quickly as you can. If you are to be an apple, be a good apple. If you are to be an orange, be the best orange you can be. I told them they were all eagles and they are not to spend another day in a chicken coop. I ran into one of the parents of a graduate and she smiled at me and said her son tells her every day he is an eagle.
I grew up the son of a Baptist preacher. All my life, people told me I was going to be a preacher like my father. I shunned the idea. I do not believe this is my calling, was my standard response. I ended up pursuing an electrical engineering degree at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.
I did not step into my “real” calling (being a preacher) until I moved to take a job at a nuclear facility in 1990. I was attending a youth revival one evening with two youth pastors and the Spirit of Lord rained down on me so heavily that I had to call my father and let him know that God had called me to preach. One of my regrets is that I did not fully appreciate our relationship as much as I should have because I ran from my calling for so long. I could have used that time to learn from my father who poured into thousands of preachers in the Birmingham ministerial society.
Love as often as you can!
Asa pastor, I believe before you can love, it is essential to have a spiritual relationship. This allows you to fully connect with your higher self. When you do this, you can be much more receptive to loving relationships. Love is so wonderful.
Many of my experiences have come at the hands of a loving relationship—My wife of 25 years. My mother and my father loved me and my brothers and sisters. My siblings and I love each other. My church family loves me and I love them. As a life coach, my clients and I share a great relationship because they know I truly care about them. I love the quote that says, People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Make sure love is on your checklist because it pervades everything you do.
Give as often as you can!
I was watching the Golden State Warriors trounce my Cleveland Cavaliers at a Sports bar the other evening. I was seated in front of a table of three. I later found out that they all worked for an IT company and they were having dinner together. We were cheering for opposing teams and they were giving me a hard time because Lebron James was having an off night. When the game was over, they asked me what did I do because I seemed so upbeat and happy. I shared with them that I was a motivational speaker and a spiritual life coach. I went to the car and got three of my books (iDeclare Love) to give to them. They all were amazed that I simply gave them a book. I simply shared this to let you know the power of giving. When you give, never look for anything in return. Giving in kindness is its own reward.
I could go on and on about all the things I have learned in my short 50 years. These top four things have helped me be the man I am today.
I watched the recent movie, War Room, three times. The character, Ms. Claire said something very powerful, The greatest grief in the whole world is realizing the truth too late. Hopefully, you will take note of something I have said in this article and internalize it so you will not have any regrets. Unfortunately, we can not turn back the hands of time!
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