Today is the day to live completely. It is of this day, of this week, and of this month that you will say in years to come “those were the days” and look back with longing and nostalgia.

Open your eyes to the beauty around you. See that even in the problems, even in the hardships, even in the brokenness, there is an intricate beauty.

Possibilities abound. Potential untapped surrounds you on every side.

Life itself waits for your involvement, and your involvement trips the cogs into action, and action on your part brings forth insight, and the insight, when linked with courage and commitment, ushers in a deep appreciation for the very act of living and makes a future worth wanting.

Life’s beautiful for the person who can see his own beauty. This is not some ridiculous self-admiration but an acknowledgement that the miraculous lives within us all.

Want no trivial self-indulgence, for it leads only to a darker pit. Instead, lift you sights to the needs of others, to the joy of children in your life and to the beauty that hides within each and every one of life’s challenges.

This is the day, the week, the month, you will remember if it’s filled with appreciation, courage and adventure.

This is your world. Go to it. It will not come to you. Break the rules and hurt no one. Stay out of control. Avoid balance. A balanced life aches for momentum while searching for safety. Be sharp-edged rather than well rounded.

Don’t tolerate difference. Tolerance is often arrogant, even contemptuous. Rather, get to know people who are “different” and your tolerance could evolve into acceptance and your acceptance could be transformed into love. Hiding behind many a “different” bush is a lifelong friend. Embrace diversity.

Recognize evil and depart from it. Evil is occurring when bureaucratic processes and religious procedures are rigidly honored while they hurt people, disrespect their values and ignore their traditions. Don’t look for hooded devils brandishing pitchforks; evil is where the lust for profit and unchecked power prevail, where lies are exchanged for truth, where integrity becomes expedient and ends justify means.

In 2006, strive to hurt no one and maintain your integrity. Value and love peace, but do not keep it. Make peace. Peacekeeping is tiring. Peacemaking usually follows intense conflict and is often permanent and creative. Live without damaging anyone.

Discuss the following with close friends:

There are no knights in shining armor. The closest you will come to a knight in shining armor will be if you polish your own suit of armor and sharpen your own sword. Beware of all who want to “deliver” you from all that hurts, from that which is difficult, and from that which is costly.

Things that are difficult to achieve are usually worth achieving.

Quick fixes, hastily gained solutions, easy answers are usually flawed, and give rise (often quite slowly) to new, greater and unexpected problems than the quick solution tried to repair or address in the first place.

If you want something for nothing, it will be at the expense of someone who is getting nothing for something. Agree to work for very hard for everything you really want. Expect nothing for nothing. Anything short of this will usually prove to be fuel for future regret.

Appropriately tell your world (everyone you know, your schools, and your places of employment) who you are, what you want, what you expect. This is called “defining yourself.” If you do not define yourself clearly and appropriately, your world will tell you who you are, what you want and what to expect. Your world will define you if you do not speak up.

The hardest tasks in life are: loving an equal, rearing a child, being in a family business, keeping the appropriate and enduring devotion of your children, and avoiding fast food.