When did it strike you that you are living your dash? That seemingly insignificant-looking line between your date of birth and death; yet in reality that represents your lifespan.

Speak to generations Z and Alpha and it’s probably no big deal. Time is in their hands, and they will get to doing the things they choose, of this there is little doubt.

Speak to the Greatest and Silent generations and they will tell you that time is fleeting, and the pace at which it’s consumed is increasing, of this they are convinced.

Does the key to your dash lie in the saying that one will only search for the keys when they know they are in jail?

The importance of my dash was recently tested when I visited my ageing mother. Being open to learning (and wanting to maximise my dash) I was curious to know what her biggest regret was. After a while she mentioned that it would have been to make more use of her time.

We can get caught in the trap of believing that we are invincible and that everything will take care of itself … that I will get around to doing whatever.

Self-deception is one of our greatest scourges as it disempowers the potency of NOW. It confines urgency to the cushioned sofa. Until our sofa becomes too thorny, we creatively deceive ourselves by avoiding the ‘truth.’

We can’t have yesterday, its’ gone! – We can’t borrow tomorrow as it has not yet come; – besides, we don’t know what it may bring. Our only hope is that we live it.

However, we have NOW. The present is ALL we have.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said that the average person goes to their grave with their music still inside them. Who wants an average life?

Is it time to seriously contemplate your dash?

Tragically there is a huge price we pay for ‘drifting’ through life.

Reset your sail, catch the wind, and appreciate NOW.

I am the author of Leading Self and Others (how to make a difference where you are with what you’ve got) and Teaming with ideas (life lessons in teams- from business, sport and parkrun). You can contact me here.