In order to live a great life, you have to be there. It sounds simple, but it's not. Too few of us truly show up in our lives, as opposed to just "phoning it in" on autopilot, barely aware of the passing days and fading nights. A great life needs a center, an authentic spine of spirit and focus - and that is you. Your soul, your dreams, your energy and your intentions. If these aren't there, or aren't "on line," then the best you can expect is a dull and lifeless existence marking the passing days on a wall until your sentence is up.

Bring yourself to the party. Make decisions based on conscious thought and critical thinking, rather than on the expectations of others or the norms of the society that you were born into. Choose dreams and purpose based on your own values and beliefs, not on the ideas and desires of others. Go out and find your purpose and destiny, rather than sitting at home hoping that life knows the way to your door and is willing to track you down. It doesn't. It won't. You lose.

The true authentic you is an irreplaceable and unrepeatable part of the pattern of life. If you don't step up to the plate, no one else can take your place. That pitch will go unhit and that run unscored for all of eternity. Maybe others can fill in, stretching themselves and their fates to overlap the edges of the hole your absence makes. Or maybe not. In either case, it barely matters. You've lost your chance at a great life and no one can give that back to you.

How are you not showing up in your life? What decisions and choices in your life are being made by others, and do not bear the unique stamp of your input and experience? Step in and step up. Be there for the pitch and hit the ball out of the field. It's the only way to get your name on the scoreboard.