2008 - Time moves along without you

(Pick up the last crayon you'll need to finish this years picture)

The last day and the last breath of 2008 awaits.

It waits for us to breath it in and live it for one last time.

The question remains though, will we take advantage of the last time we see 2008, or will we let it drift away, never to see it again?

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Coloring in a Black and White picture

Philosophically, we must all understand that we invest our selves and our lives into each and every year.

When one year finishes, we've left a part of our soul with it.
It's as if we've colored one of those children's black and white pictures.

We started off with these nice goals, this nice outline of what we wanted to do.
Then we spent a year coloring it in, trying to get the right shades of color.

At the end of the year though, we have to ask ourselves, did we get the right colors we wanted?

Did we stay within the lines?

Have we become a better person and can we move on to bolder tasks and eventually the Mona Lisa?

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My Journey

Some of us rush to fill in what we can, at the end of the year.

Others procrastinate our goals, and leave them be for another year.

For once in my life though, personally, I can say I've colored in the picture as best as I can.
I've had breakthroughs and goals that I had never felt I could start, let alone possibly overcome.

I can move on to a closer image of my Mona Lisa.

If I had to define a climax in the first part of my young life (first 20 years) , I can say that this climax occurred in this year.

Things forever distant, or seemingly invincible, have become possible, and long journeys seem short distances.

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What we should do tomorrow

When you wake up tomorrow, try and take in as much of the last bit of 2008 that remains.

This doesn't mean that I'm asking everyone to go and create a busy schedule of events and to try and stay active tomorrow.

That's actually the opposite of what I feel is best.

Do the closest thing you can do, to connect with the world. How you do that depends on the person.

I go biking and I let the world slow down as it rushes around me. One hour on a bike is longer than most people's days feel.

Some people simply like going to a park, some feel it deep in yoga, and others feel it when the mist of the waves hits their face.

Regardless of what your task is, don't let your body, your soul, and your mind treat this last day of 2008, as any ordinary day.

Don't drown in normal entertainment and let them amuse your day away, doing things like watching T.V or going to the movies. Do not succumb to popular entertainment, and don't hibernate your mind, at least not on this day.

Do whatever you normally do, that slows down the world, brings it to a halt, and allows you to contemplate on your life.

That's where philosophy lies, it's where it hides, and if you have to put yourself in a prison to make it happen, then buy yourself some metal bars.

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The last day of 2008 is for remembering the past

Sacrifice that last day of 2008 to yourself. Sacrifice it to slow down the dizzying world around you.

Let that last day die and with it spark a revolution inside of you.

Let 2008 wrap around you and contemplate on what has happened, not on what must in the future.

The future, and your future goals need to wait for another day.
That outline and that black and white picture will be made in 2009.

But that last day of 2008 is for the past.

Soak yourself up in the lessons of history, and awake the next day, clean and rejuvenated, ready for the next picture, awaiting to be colored in, one step closer to your Mona Lisa.

~~Phoenix