When you hear the phrase “life at full throttle,” what comes to mind? Extreme sports? Risky investments? Exotic travel? Extreme career changes?
Life at full throttle doesn’t have to be glitzy or glamorous. It doesn’t have to be reckless or irresponsible. It doesn’t even have to be selfish or ego driven.
Life at full throttle is passionately pursing what you believe to be most important. It’s pursuing it everyday and in every way. It’s leveraging every gift , talent, and resource for the purpose of accomplishing that pursuit.
Living life at full throttle will require you to be…
- Active in your pursuit. You cannot live life at full throttle if you’re not going to actively pursue something. Many people think about what they want to pursue, dream about what they want to pursue, maybe even plan for what they want to pursue…but they never pursue it. Benjamin Franklin said, “Well done is better than well said.” If you’re going to live life at full throttle, you have to roll up your sleeves and do something.
- Obvious in your mistakes. Some fail to live life at full throttle, because they fear making mistakes. George Bernard Shaw once said, “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” If you live life at full throttle, you will make mistakes. Expect them. Own up to them. Learn from them.
- Consistent in your retries. As we said, you’re going to get off track. You’re going to fall down. The success of your pursuit is found not in how often you get things right, but in how often you try again. Oliver Goldsmith said, “Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.” Any worthy pursuit will require you to try and try again.
You can live life at full throttle for anything. For the good or the bad. For the important or the petty. For your own personal good or for the greater good. So it’s important to ask yourself, “For what do I want to live life at full throttle?” Stephen Covey once said, “If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.” Be brutally honest and ask yourself…”What am I really living for, and will it really be important to me on my death bed?”
On another level…
Scripture has many examples of people who lived life at full throttle. King David was an international, high profile person. He was a mighty warrior and a great king. Palaces, wealth, and power were all his. In 2 Sam. 6 you find David making advances and mistakes, but all in full throttle pursuit of what he felt was most important…God Himself. Consequently, his story is still told. His life still has impact.
Jesus also lived life at full throttle, but in contrast to David, Jesus was relatively unknown. He had no palace. No wealth. No property. No place to lay his head. Yet He lived His life so full throttle that He gave His last drop of blood for what he believed to be important; (Mark 10:45). Consequently, He changed the world and eternity.
So what it is that keeps you from living life at full throttle?
Leave a comment and tell us how you would like to live life more full throttle or share some things that you’ve found helpful in living life at full throttle.
Copyright © 2014 Bret Legg
This seems to tie into your blog about the most important thing in our lives. We drive towards this, if we have come to recognize it anyway. A lot of what can keep us from going full throttle, in hopefully a positive way, is fear. The fear of messing up, fear of failing, fear of not having the strength to follow through during a setback. Taking steps to move toward a goal, especially in a relationship with Christ, can be fearful until we can accept we will make mistakes and as long as we pick ourselves up and let God pick us up, we will never fail.
Great points. Some fear can keep us from being reckless, but too much fear can keep us from growing and progressing. According to 2 Tim. 1:7, our pursuits should be ultimately decided and empowered by power, love, and self control…not fear.