I appreciate the fact that you are all here today, instead of watching the Orioles -Yankees game live in Baltimore. I am still undecided about which Major League Baseball team to be a fan of, so if you can convince me your team is best, then I am all for it.

My dad taught me the secrets of delivering a successful message. He told me, "You only need to know three things; be short, be concise and be seated." So I intend to fully practice his advice today.

Who here plays or has ever played soccer?

When I was in high school my soccer team would go every Friday to a worship breakfast at a local church. The youth pastor would give a short inspirational talk to motivate us to win the next week's games. The most impacting talk I heard was called "What do you want on your Tombstone?" Do you remember this commercial where there are two cowboys and one says to the other one as he is about to shoot him, "What do you want on your Tombstone?" and the other then replies "Sausage, Peppers and Pepperoni"

The minister asked us, what we thought was the most important part of someone's tombstone. What do you all think it is?

The dash in between the day you are born and the day you die. This dash represents the impact you make on the world and the legacy you leave behind. Your name might not be remembered, but the impact you make on the world around you will be remembered forever.

Life is short and no one knows for certain how long they will live; therefore we must live a life of greatness and one with the largest impact, in our day-to-day lives.

When I was in Israel, organizing projects for Service for Peace, I met this one Israeli who wanted to have a project at his organic farm. His name was Emilio Mogilner and he was a well known painter and sculptor. Explaining his art movement he founded called "One Breath Time" he told of a failed assassination attempt on his life in 1999, which left him without the use of his right arm. The aftermath of this experience was very trying for him and he thought his career as an artist was over. Then after much questioning and soul searching he realized that life is short, it is like a single breath, and that we should live every day like it was our last breath, to the fullest. So he developed a technique of painting where he takes one breath and paints until he no longer can hold his breath. Once his breath is gone, his painting is finished. To him this is representational of living life in the moment.

This idea really resounded in me. Then later I heard Rev. Moon mention how our lives are but a moment. If our lives then are only a moment, then we should make the most out of this moment and grab every opportunity for greatness.

There are numerous told, and untold, stories of people rising to greatness - of people who have gone beyond themselves and impacted the world for the better. If asked, these people would most likely say that there was some inner strength that compelled them. This inner strength is in all of us. To quote Rev. Moon once more "When you look into yourself, you will find something of vast value, which is something like the source, God."

We each have God in us and as such are able to make the impact we are. When we were younger, my family went on camping trips or just out into nature almost every week. When we were out, in nature, my parents used to tell us to be quiet so we could experience God. I always thought this was some form of punishment so, needless to say, I broke the silence a lot, but looking back, I see how this experience played influentially in my life. Through being able to find God in nature, I could see that He was in me, so that makes me a hugely powerful person. To me having alone time with God is being with myself. My dad used to run in races and when he did, I would also run in the fun runs. Running for me is very spiritual, because the only person you are competing against is yourself; all that matters is what is happening at that time, it is truly living in the moment, and experiencing God. I just started running again after two years and my goal is to run in a 5K this summer.

The idea of individual's power is a commonly heard theme in many facets of society. Many business philosophies focus on the power of the individual. Nowadays, books are being written for the business executive about how to create the largest return on their investment - the investment referring to their employees. One such book, a fictional business parable - The Angel Inside, was written by Chris Widener, founder of "Made for Success." My dad who is a CEO sent me this book. The story uses Michelangelo's life and works to illustrate life lessons. One lesson is "Every person has this tremendous capacity to be both king and warrior, a person of value and a person of accomplishment -of beauty and power"

Another: "Whatever you have as your work, do it with excellence. Excellence is what will open the door for further opportunity... Become a person whom others will be proud to know. Do the best you can at your work. Above all, be passionate about what you do and how you live your life. First, yes, you will have to do some soul-searching about what it is that you are passionate about, but if you search, you will find it. When you do, pursue it with your whole heart. Throw yourself into the work that you love. Do the same in your life. And if you will do these things, everything that is destined to come to pass will indeed come to pass."

If you are passionate about life, then you will make the biggest impact.

Another business executive aimed book is Walk the Talk and Get the Results You Want. Also a business parable, one teaching from this book is "We judge ourselves mostly by our intentions, but others judge us mostly by our actions."

This hits home most to me. My brother just passed away and I feel he really walked the talk. For him doctrine and words were useless. He told me that he believed you did not get to heaven by believing the right thing or not, but by living a life that helps other people. Even though his life was short, he made a phenomenal impact on people. He truly embodied living for and helping others by bringing happiness and creating an environment where those around him could be comfortable. His friends, who he brought together, would never have done so in other circumstances, because they were so vastly different. But it was his mission to bring people together, not through words but through action.

I want to leave you with one last point, from The Celestine Prophecy "We are not here in this life merely by accident, playing out some meaningless drama. Our lives have purpose, a sense of destiny." So with that, in closing, if you take away one point from today, I hope it is how well you live your dash.