Time for me to quote one of my favorite poems by Shel Silverstein:

 

Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda

All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

Layin’ in the sun,

Talkin’ ’bout the things

They woulda-coulda-shoulda done…

But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

All ran away and hid

From one little did.

 

~Shel Silverstein~

I like this poem so much because there’s a lot of truth in just a few words. It’s about taking action. No matter what the situation is, just sitting there and thinking about what you should do isn’t going to help. Worse is looking back on something and wishing and wishing and wishing that you had done something differently.

It’s happened to me quite a few times… and I can tell you, nothing is worse than that sense of regret after a missed opportunity. When you have a chance to do something, do it! Don’t wait… because that chance may never come again. Actually, I wrote a poem about opportunity- it’s called “The Visitor.” Check out the Short Stories and Poems page to read it. 🙂

You may have heard a lot about acceptance. You know, that you should learn to accept things for the way they are… and that’s true. To a certain extent. The thing is, you need to be able to accept things, but you also need to know when it is in your power to change things. If something’s happening, and you don’t like it, don’t complain to all your friends and family about how terrible it is- do something about it! Complaining will solve nothing… knowing what to do will solve nothing, if you don’t put that knowledge to use!

All that crap you hear about “one person can make a difference” and “you can change the world”… well, you know something? That crap is true. Don’t listen to anyone who says it isn’t. Don’t get discouraged… just keep trying. It’s like this quote:

“Even a fool knows we can’t reach the stars, but that doesn’t stop the wise man from trying.”

Don’t let those fools fool you. Because there will be people who will tell you flat–out that you can’t. And it’s your job not to listen to them and keep trying anyway.

Dream, because if you dream, you have something to shoot for. But don’t forget to shoot as well as dream, because if you only dream and don’t do, nothing will happen. Dreams are the moon and actions are rockets.

Yeah, I totally came up with that myself. Pretty good, huh? 😉

My dream is to get my book published and become an author… and you know what? It’s going to happen. Because I’m going to make it happen. No matter what anyone says.

I found this when I was looking for a song for one of my school projects. I really like it because both the music and the lyrics are great. Usually it’s one or the other, but this is one of the few times when it’s both:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9TlDXSQfs0&ob=av2e