I know game well.

I also know - and too often forget - "all or nothing" game is one big illusion. The reality is as author Richard Bach writes:

"Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but mark of a fake messiah."

Further, words of Ralph Waldo Emerson suggest:

"No matter what your work, let it be your own. No matter what your occupation, let what you are doing be organic. Let it be in your bones. In this way you will open door by which affluence of heaven and earth shall stream into you."

To me, message is clear. Be myself. Completely. Always.

Speak my truth. Passionately. Authoritatively.

We get to "big game" only by giving our all in "little games." If we don't play "all out" when stakes are low, can we really believe we will when stakes are high?

General Electric CEO Jack Welch was recently asked by a Fairfield University Business School student what advice he could give regarding a successful business career in today's world. His reply, which he repeated 3 times, was simply: "be yourself."

Do you play? The "all or nothing" game - do you ever play it? Take a good, hard look at your life.

If so, these words - again from Richard Bach - are cause for contemplation:

"Every person, all events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you."

See, what I believe is that each moment presents us with an opportunity. It's opportunity to authentically and passionately express totality of all that's within us. All that we've been created to be.

The Creator yearns for it. Begs for it. Waits for us to be all (s)he's created us to be. That's real game. The biggest game. Those are highest stakes. That's when we're most fulfilled. Most complete. Most abundant.

The world waits for it. Just as world waited for other great leaders. Leaders like Jesus Christ, The Buddha, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa and Winston Churchill to name a few.

The world is waiting for YOU. So, don't play "all or nothing" game. Be yourself. Always. Speak your truth. Passionately. Authoritatively.

Give all of who you are. In each moment.

It's Your Life! Make it Great.

With reserves comes freedom.freedom to choose instead of being subject to your circumstances. Instead of allowing circumstances to control your reaction, you are able to make a choice about how to handle situation, instead of letting circumstance dictate it for you. When you have "it" (time, money, energy, love) to give, you're not depleted.

Reserves, however, don't fall out of sky. They are created. They are planted, nourished, fed, and grown. They are a conscious choice.

Stockpiling is obvious way to create reserves: . Healthy relationships create a reserve of support . Extra money in bank creates a reserve of emergency funds. . Extra shampoo, batteries, medicine, or food creates a reserve of necessities. . An organized environment creates a reserve of space. . Extra cell phone battery creates a reserve of communication

Another way to create reserves is though simplification: . To find a reserve of time, first simplify by delegating a task to someone else, dumping task if it's no longer important, or saying NO to things that don't meet your goals. . To find a reserve of space, first simplify by clearing out things that don't bring you joy. . To find a reserve of love, identify and weed out people in your life who are "extras", and not supporters. . To find a reserve of energy, identify and remove things from your life that drag you down (lack of self care, regrets, lack of boundaries).

An often overlooked way to establish a reserve is to identify and fix whatever is draining reserves you already have. Is your mortgage too high, and is draining your bank account? Is your job difficult and is draining your energy? Has clutter taken over and is draining your reserve of space? Plug up those holes! You can't create and build reserves if they're draining out as fast as you add them.

What I want to stress here is that any plans to change your life that fails to include reserves is doomed from start. Change of any kind only has staying power - sustainability - if it has firm ground to stand on. With reserves, you operate from a base of stability and security.

You can't predict, you can prepare. Experience power of making decisions based on security instead of worry, readiness instead of reluctance, abundance instead of lack. Use what successful people have always known -- if you want something better in your life, begin with reserves.