Boy, do I feel old. Or at least older.

No, I didn?t just have a birthday (well, it was last month). I am thirty-seven years old. No, my oldest child just had a birthday ? he turned 13 last Friday (I have four kids ? 13, 11, 9, and 8).

Sure, I am not old, and neither is he. But this birthday ? the 13th ? is significant and is cause for reflection. ?They don?t get any younger,? they say. And that is exactly my point.

It seems like just yesterday I was playing baseball in little league. Or getting my high school diploma. Or walking down the aisle to get married. Or seeing my firstborn for the first time in that hospital in Morristown N.J.

All of those things were great experiences and ones that I will only experience once. They were fulfillments of goals I had set or dreams that I had. They came, and they went. Now they are but memories. Can you remember yours?

Soon enough this young man of mine will graduate himself and be gone from our home. And his three little sisters soon after that. When the youngest graduates from high school, I?ll be 47. Ten more years of goals fulfilled , but ten years less to live.

Life goes on and there is nothing you can do to stop the wheels of time? All you can do is make sure that you live every moment of every hour, of every day, week and year to it?s fullest. That is all we can do.

So these are my question to you this week: Are you aware that your life goes on? Do you realize that many of things you are experiencing will never be experienced again? Do you know that once a day is gone, it is gone forever?

Its true. All the more reason we must be extremely proactive. I am not suggesting that we work all the time. I believe that we should live balanced lives and that our down times are just as important in the grand scheme of things as those in which we are working away. The key is to know what we want to do, to be proactive in making sure we do it, and then following through so when that day comes on which we take our last breath, or someone close to us does, we know deep down in our hearts that we did everything we could to make the most of our lives.

Have you taken responsibility and ownership for your life?

Do you have clearly stated goals?

Are you working on your relationships to make them as healthy as humanly possible? Are you keeping your life in balance?

Will you leave a legacy for others to enjoy and follow?

These are important questions to answer. More important than that is to do what it takes to live the life of your dreams and leave a lasting legacy.

I am spending my life committed to helping others do all they can to make the most of their lives and enjoy them to the fullest. If you are doing that and living the life of your dreams, that is great!

If you don?t take the time and invest today, when will you? You don?t have to pursue your dreams ? they can wait right? But remember, life goes on. The kids get older, and so do you. Tomorrow there will only be one less day to make your significant mark on the world. You know the world needs your contribution, don?t you? Now more than ever!

Here is my challenge: Live your dreams TODAY! Take your life under your control and make it happen.