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Life is not a dress rehearsal
My final tip is the shortest and most obvious of them all, yet we seldom seem to think about it, despite the fact that it applies to all of us. There is a golden thread running through this book: it is that the world will not change for you if you sit and wait for it to change. Only you can make things happen to alter your life and so reduce your stress, and there is only one life to do it in - this one.
I am a great believer in trying to beat the odds stacked against you in life, however daunting they may appear. There will be many times you cannot, but by using perspective, the appropriate tips and a balanced view of your stress, you will not be beaten.
I leave the last word to a patient of mine who was diagnosed with a particularly nasty and aggressive form of cancer. She had always led life to the foil, and was determined that her illness would not change this. She took this view despite debilitating surgery and chemotherapy. Over many months I watched with growing respect as she took every chance she had to realize her ambitions and learn new skills in order to achieve them. She began to set up the career she had always wanted, and even when she was profoundly tired and weak was always making plans for her future. Her schemes were practical, not just fine theory; she worked hard to set up a five-year plan for the business she hoped to create. When I talked with her about the possibility she might not see the following week let alone the next five years, she said, 'I only have one run at this world and I'm not going to give it up just because I'm ill.' I remembered those words when she died several days later, and they still serve to remind me to do the best I can in my own run at the world. The patient I am telling you about was 18 years old.

.Personal Development
No one will achieve your goals for you. Don't wait for the world to change - change yourself and make those goals happen. Life is not a dress rehearsal and we have only one run at it, so don't waste it.

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