by Jason Nelson

Created on: June 20, 2010   Last Updated: June 21, 2010

When confronted with life as a whole, it is easy to see what we had, what we wanted, and what we could of achieved.  However, to be confronted with your own life means you have already lived it, looking back in hindsight at everything thought and experienced.  By then, though, it is too late to change.  Life is nearly over, and there is nothing that can be done to change the past.  What is interesting about this is that despite the fact that the dying have been trying to communicate messages and advice to the newly-born for centuries, the advice passed is not heeded.  The advice of course, is usually that those with a life to live should live it as well as possible, seizing every opportunity within reach and taking advantage of all gifts given to them.  

What that translates to really, is a simple message: Never settle for second best in life.  Perhaps what comes to mind is, how does seizing every opportunity, taking advantage of every gift, and living the best life possible connect to not settling for second best?  In fact, despite language differences, they are synonymous.  Not settling for second best is what should always be done, and it is because to settle for second best is to waste life and its benefits.

We live in a day and age where recycling, green energy, and conservation are at the top of the list for contemporary issues.  The fight to save the planet is relatively new compared to the history of man, but its effects are just as big as the industrial revolution.  It has changed the way the world thinks about energy, and is slowly changing the way we live.  In the future, technology will change, and old ways of waste will be left behind.  What can be learned from this is that just like wasting resources and destroying the future of nature is an explosive issue, wasting the gifts of life and destroying our own futures is just as terrible a thing, and needs to be addressed.  The resource of life is abundant throughout the world, but to the individual, the resource of life is the most precious and limited recourse available to them, and that should be their top priority to preserve and maximize.

Being second best means to settle for less than what could be achieved.  What has happened is people do not strive to be the best they can be because to fail is almost a social crime.  To fail is to lose face, to lose face is to lose confidence, to lose confidence is to

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