Now that I’m dead, I want to tell you a few things.

If I were still alive I would begin by telling you what day and time it was. I would tell you where I was and what I was doing while writing this. That’s how I used to like to start. But I am no longer afforded the freedoms of time, choice and action.

These are the things I’d like to talk to you about.

If you are still alive there is still time. It does not start tomorrow or the beginning of next week. It does not start at 9am or 5pm. It starts the second you come kicking and screaming into this world and it does not let up until it lets go. It begs you to do the same. When you fall to the side you are dead. No amount of breathing or breeding will change that.

Life is not short. The time you are allotted is of no small amount. There is in fact a lot of it. It’s how you do or don’t choose to spend it that determines its value, and the value of the surrounding hours.

The things that allow one to sit complacently back as life passes by should be dumped and left behind. They should be replaced with blank pages for the mind and body to spill out upon. Be intrepid. Determine for yourself what is important. Have the courage to walk away from what is not and the fortitude to walk into what is.

It will start with a self-inflicted sense of torment and dread. This is good. This introduces choices and challenges otherwise lost. This leads to questions, answers, ideas; discipline, achievement, pride. These are the things that should be furiously and continuously sought out. These are the things that create resilient individuals, with the voices to inspire many.

Exhaustion is not a stopping point. When your mind fails, use your body. When your body aches, use your mind. One reinvigorates the other. Neglecting the health of either is a choice that comes at a great cost, but it is a choice. Choose wisely and you will go far. When exhaustion seeks to flatten you, keep going.

Educate and inform yourself.

The only thing as important as the conquering of knowledge is the method of pursuit. Read, research, roam. Even when you don’t want to. Pack an open mind and little else. Leave your home, your city, your state and your country. Immerse yourself in foreign cultures and absorb them into you. Think. Come to your own conclusions and do something with them. Educate others and begin again.

Know that the choices you make affect not only you, but all of those around you. Every one. Everyone. Never lose sight of that. Be considerate, polite and patient. As you continue to relentlessly push yourself forward, you will find yourself growing stronger. Use this strength to carry others with you, and to teach them how to carry themselves.

The world has problems that you can solve. Many of them stem from things like desperation, greed and the squandering of human rights. A poor education can force a person to make poor choices. It is sometimes simply a matter of survival. This can lead to things like hunger, addiction, violence, disease and death. And all this leads to is more hunger, addiction, violence, disease and death.

Armed with better information and a better education, I believe people will ultimately make better choices. And the roar of morality will silence the greed and destruction of the staggering giants.

These cowards and their manufactured violence do not solve problems. They do not “win” wars. They create unnecessary and unwinnable ones. They create poisoned profits and a thirst for more. This of course only creates more problems and leads to more disheartening times.

But there is another way. There is a better way and it is yours to run with.

What solves problems and leads to righteous times, are the mighty minds and gentle hands of passionate individuals. Until you die there is time to choose and to act. There is time to be one of these individuals and to shape more. I know you can. I believe you will. And I hope you will start right now. Thank you.