Don’t wait for some distant day to come,
it may be too late before you’ve even begun.
Not everyone will agree with all you decide.

Be true to yourself first and foremost.
The only important thing in life is what you do
with the time you spend here on earth.

Don’t be afraid to follow your desires,
they are not silly nor selfish.
Take the time and do what makes you feel alive.

Leave your fears and regrets in the past,
for this is where they belong.
Don’t cloud today with things that can’t be undone.

You have no more control over yesterday or tomorrow,
than you do the raging of your passions.
Do not quiet these dreams nor quench your desires.

For if you do, your journey is ended.
You have only today to begin anew and follow your dreams.
For in the end all we have are our memories.

When the twilight comes to us, let there be,
No excuses, no explanations, no regrets!

If you can’t be the pine at the top of the hill
Be the scrub in the valley, but be

The best little scrub on the side of the hill
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree

If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass
Doing something for somebody’s sake

If you can’t be a muskie try being a bass
But be the liveliest bass in the lake

We can’t all be captains, some have to be crew
There is something for all of us here

There is big work and little for people to do
And the task we must do is near

So if you can’t be a highway then be a great trail
If you can’t be a sun be a star

It isn’t by size that you win or you fail
Be the best at whatever you are

By Douglas Malloch