Are you waiting for your dreams to come true; to enjoy life more or find more happiness.  Maybe you’re waiting for someone to die, for a promotion that hasn’t happened for years or for more money to show up. Why? Life is NOT a dress rehearsal where we practice until the curtain goes up in a couple of days when it’s for “real”.

A dress rehearsal, as you may know, is where we, as actors, get to practice with our sets, costumes, lights, props and other actors before a real audience shows up.  We hope we have our lines right by then, that no one misses their cues, musicians come in on time, the props we are practicing with become the ones we actually will use on stage, and the gun will be loaded with blanks so we get used to the sound.  We also hope no set pieces fall over or on us, we don’t end up in the dark at the wrong time because someone got the cue wrong, and sometimes, we even get to start over if something goes wrong.  Does this sound like real life?

If we keep acting like our “real” life is a dress rehearsal, we are muddling through figuring that this life doesn’t “count”. That we get to do it again. And while it may be true that there are past lives and even future lives for us to try again, I always think of this as the one and only one just so I try to find more joy, more love, and behave with more grace and gratitude so I can really enjoy this life that I currently have.  Because after all, whatever we believe, who knows truly if there IS more?

What would happen in your life if you lived as though every moment counted and could be your last? Wouldn’t you find ways to make things matter more, make more of a difference or somehow put your stamp on something so you leave a legacy?  Just remember, life is NOT a dress rehearsal!