One of the biggest fears that I have in life is getting to the end of it and realizing that I didn’t give it everything I had. I know that effort isn’t everything but it is a huge deal. There are times in my life when I can look back and say, “I gave it absolutely everything I had.” Even if I made mistakes in those times (which I’m sure I did), I have no regrets because I gave whatever it was I was doing my best shot.

It’s easy to sit on the sidelines of life and be a critic. I love this quote from Teddy Roosevelt:

It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood…

There is more to that quote than that but I believe that Teddy’s words apply to all of us. For those of us who claim to be Christians, this idea becomes especially charged because we claim to be doing whatever we do for the glory of God. The bottom line is that we only get one life and nobody knows how long they have. We do know that we have today…we do know that we have right now.

My encouragement to you would be to go all in today. I don’t know what that looks like in your particular context but I know that it’s easier said than done. Sometimes we’re afraid of going all in because we’re afraid that we might get hurt. To go all in you do need to risk getting hurt but it’s worth it. There is no worse feeling than to get to the end of a day and wonder, “What would have happened if I had just given it my all?” Don’t let that question haunt you. Put all your chips in the middle of the table and go for it! If you realize that you made mistakes, admit it and readjust but keep on living with an all in mentality.

This may look like forgiving someone that you’ve been wishing you had already forgiven.

This may mean writing that note to a person that needs an encouraging word.

It may mean doing something extra special for your spouse.

Perhaps it looks like not procrastinating any longer on that project.

Whatever it is and no matter what it takes, go all in!