(#6025) As a true American patriot Nathan Hale said, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,"

      Not only are his words immortalized as a really cry around freedom, liberty, and justice, but his words also demonstrate that we have only one life. In the early moments of our lives we seem to know that we have lots of time to enjoy or endure life as per our circumstances. Either way this is deceiving. Using my own experience as an example I know how in the beginning of my life I felt time was so abundant that by the time I got old I would have done many things and accomplished most of my goals. But what I have found is that time is not like what we think in our heads.
     It is relentless and unforgiving. To procrastinate is to fall behind in our imagined schedule. So putting our time to good use often finds us busy all the time and without the objectivity to see how time is flying by. For me it was so. No sooner had I done a few things I found myself 10 years down the road. The pattern repeats with fewer accomplishments and goals reached and age is upon me in ways that tell me I have less time to live and a body that is not like when I started. When I was 17 the world looked to be my existence to explore and understand. At nearly 70 the outlook is not even close to what I had hoped to experience.
     Nathan's 21 years not  only served him in his quest it inspired generations of like minded folks to a greater effort of purpose. Which brings me back to Nathan Hale. His understanding that pouring everything into his passion of helping to create the greatest democracy the world has ever seen was only limited by his inability to exist beyond death. What have I learned from this lesson? Simply to live with the gusto that Mr. Hale exemplified. Do everything to find a purpose and then focus all effort to achieving it. Whether we die at 21 like Nathan or we live to nearly 70 like me. the path forward is to live with your head held high and make the world better because you have been in it.