LIfe is short play...hard? more? less?

We've all the phrase "Life is short, play hard" and other variations and it is true.

We make friends; we lose them. We keep in touch. We lose contact. We reconnect. It seems like an insane cycle in which quality is lost and gained; then a sudden something jars us back into reality. We wake up and find new inspiration to live better, do more and be happy...or shouldn't we?

That's happened to me more than once in this life. Life is like a painting, a long series of corrections if you pay attention. The surprises have come to me when I'm not paying attention. Having lost family members, co-workers, associates and friends over the years, experiencing the loss of someone through death is always profound either a little or a lot.

What do you do when you get a jolt back to carving out the crap of life and making a renewed focus on quality? Follow your bliss....follow your bliss....follow your bliss...and start by

1. Be okay when you've lost contact with friends and know they represent the other half of the equation.

2. If there is someone or a group of people you want to be in contact with, make the effort, do the work. Good friends will be glad you called and you will be glad.

3. When making new quality friends, "quality" is the key. Make sure that's what they are after too. If not move on.....you have better things to do.

4. It's not just about other people, take care of yourself and give yourself "permission" to do things you want to do. Start by thinking of what it is you would like to have accomplished by the end of your life and start doing them. Otherwise, you are the only one that will have the regret in the end.

5. Live life with no regrets and therefore no fear. The world of media and commerce is bent on creating a need often by instilling the "fear of" the "something unknown, if you don't act now." Get rid of that feeling of dread now. It serves no one except Madison Avenue. The world is more than just commerce. Human beings are more than just commerce.

6. Love recklessly and enjoy the people you are with.

7. Go! Start today. Make a plan but don't get bogged down in the details. Just...GO!