Madams and Masseurs, welcome to the award ceremony of our time.

The event: Life

The competition: Control of our feelings, activities, plans, thoughts and goals.

Judging: Should and must only be done by the individual.

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FINAL STANDINGS

GOLD = You SILVER = Family BRONZE = Friends ALSO RAN = Work/career

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At least that's how it should work out. But all too often, we manage to put ourselves out of medal contention by putting too much emphasis on other parts of our lives. We end up backstage watching the other areas of our life get the rewards.

In the long run, while we keep hoping for a better life and more control, our work gets the best of our lives, friends and family get our attention when we can squeeze them in, and we often left sitting back thinking about what we could have been.

Before it gets too strict, we need to understand that different areas of our life will take precedence over others at times. Different happenings will need our attention. Our responsibility will be in what we do about things.

There will be events at work which will "need" to be done. There will be friends who will "need" our help at times. There will be family events we will "need" to be involved with.

Before we go too far "out of our way" to meet these needs, we need to see how each affects us. Do we drive our mother-in-law around to go shopping every time she wants us to? Do we continue to do "extra" things for our boss just because we are good and "can" do it?

Like so much, it all depends. But the criteria of deciding should be based on the overall importance we place on them. Should you do the extra things, yes - at times. Should you drive mom around from time to time - sure. Should you do it all the time? Only if that is what YOU feel is most important to YOU.

Life is a sport we all take part in. It is not for spectators. It is a game we all get to judge for ourselves. It is, in the end, an individual sport made up of millions of individual events. It is also a team sport where by assisting others, we all can win. It is great to help others to go for their own gold, but never to sacrifice our own.

There are plenty of gold medals to go around. So get up there, stand on the podium and accept yours