5:45 pm. Remember that time. The tick-tock of the clock counted down the seconds to eternity for one very promising young man. Time - It's something we all experience, yet some of us seem to run out of it much faster than others. We all have free will, but fate seems intertwined with the choices we make and can interfere in the affairs of man, to deadly effect.

The Rebel Awakes

In Fairmount, Indiana a baby boy was born with a mind that would help him develop into a world-class movie star. Never famous while he was alive, his relentless will to succeed was propelled by a pure, raw talent that Hollywood could not ignore. The specter of doom was also greedily eyeing the child, biding its time until a certain Friday: at 5:45...

I often think of time and fate and the choices we make, and I keep coming back to James Dean. Every single choice he made on his last day, unwittingly led to his death. Every pause to smoke, the decision to test-drive the car before the race - even getting stopped for speeding - all led to the long march at that fatal intersection.

When Obi-Wan Kenobi speaks...

British actor Alec Guinness - Better known as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars - on being asked to look at the car by Jimmy, dubbed "Little Bastard" saw something sinister in the shiny vehicle and warned Dean:

If you get in that car, you will be found dead in it by this time next week.

He was off by one day. See the 1977 interview below:

• The Spyder was originally supposed to be towed, but Dean makes the fateful decision to break it in by driving it to the race.
• 1:15 pm - The team departs after stopping for snacks at the Hollywood Ranch Market.
• 2:00 pm - they gas up at a Mobil station on Ventura Blvd.
• 3:30 pm - Dean caught speeding by CHIP officer O.V. Hunter, on Wheeler Ridge near Bakersfield, California.
• 5:15 pm - Dean's car leaves Blackwells Corner, pulling away from his team.
• 5:45 pm - The Porsche Spyder crests Polonio Pass, cruising down Antelope Grade on its path to destiny with Donald Turnipseed and his Ford Tudor. James Dean becomes a legend.

If he had done anything differently that day, might he have survived? May he have arrived at that intersection earlier or later, and never collided with Donald Turnupseed?

"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean

We all want to be remembered, to be known for something. As Steve Jobs once said: "I want to put a ding in the Universe" James Dean got the fame he always desired, but he had to give his precious life to get it. His death at such a young age, made him an American icon. On September 30, 1955 Dean entered the same Pantheon, which would later include Elvis Presley just 22 years in the future.

Two weeks before he died (at 24) Dean filmed a PSA about the dangers of speeding, I include it below.

Listen to that inner voice

So, the next time you're late for work, or you miss a flight, instead of getting upset, think of James Dean. Being late may have just saved your life. Have you heard the voice of intuition? That sixth sense subtly guiding your life, yet leaving the ultimate choices up to you? Please share.

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