I saw these words on a TV commercial for retirement, and I thought “NO!!!” This is not about retirement! This is about your life right now! These words are an example of how we are taught to keep putting off our lives one day at a time, until we suddenly realize we have no life left!
Most of us live parallel lives. We live day to day, sometimes in the present, and often float off into visions of our past. At other times we free ourselves up enough to daydream about a better life in our future, one where we have lots of free time to do exactly what we want, whenever we want to.
I was handed that kind of free time five years ago when I lost my job, and it scared the hell out of me! Because when you have that much free time, it’s very hard to distract yourself from the problem at hand.
When you finally get anywhere near the strong feeling of nothing left to lose, the freedom can be terrifying. When you have nothing but time to think about yourself and your life, you may begin to wonder,
“What have I really done with my life so far? Has my life had any meaning at all?”
These feelings of terror were exactly what I needed to stop wishing and start doing. I decided I strongly desired more of two things in my life: fun and meaning. I didn’t want to suffer now for a better future later. I knew I was through with that way of living. I felt forced to take a painfully honest inventory of what I needed to do before I died.
It has been a slow, difficult process moving from those stark, dark days to something better. From where I sit today, every single moment of confusion and uncertainty was worth the joyful life I see before me.
Yes, it is important to daydream and vision and make wish lists about finding a better future for yourself. But only if you are willing to take some gigantic risks to follow through with your plan.
“Only those who risk going too far, can possibly find out how far one can go.” -T.S. Eliot
