You know what I think is sad? When people think that they have to be ready before they embark on a new adventure, on following a dream. You know, when there is something that they really want to do, but they put it off because they don’t think that they’re ready.
What does ‘when you’re ready’ even mean?
When you have enough money?
When you’re older?
When you have more experience?
When you’re fitter?
When the kids have grown up?
When you’ve paid off the house?
Any of those above and any that you can think of are just excuses. And the sad thing is even when you do pay off your house, you’ll think of another excuse.
And then, one day, it will be too late. You will look back at your life not remembering those wonderful things that you did, but those wonderful things that you didn’t do, that you didn’t make time for.
No-one knows what’s around the corner, you may not live until retirement, you may go bankrupt and never be able to own your own home, the kids may live with you until they’re in their 30’s!
When you put things off until ‘you’re ready’ you’ll never get there, because life is life and you will never be ready, life will never be perfect for you to embark on that dream.
There really is no such thing as ‘when you’re ready’. Instead, there is only now.
So, really, you may as well do it now, I mean there’s no time like the present, right? Don’t worry about what people may say. It’s your life. Live it.
Ten years ago, we sold our little farm and instead of putting all the proceeds onto the next mortgage we looked at each other and said, we may never have this available cash again, lets’ travel. So we did. We took 8 weeks off and did Great Britain, Ireland and Europe – something like 23 countries in that time frame with a stopover in Hong Kong and Singapore, our son’s 15th birthday present was spending the day at Pompeii. We saw so much in those 8 weeks, it was exhausting. Do we regret it? Never. We have never said, gee we shouldn’t have spent that money on a holiday. Sure, we’d be a lot better off financially if we had put it on the mortgage, but then we would never have travelled the world and seen so many beautiful things and places.
So, what it is that you’ve always wanted to do but have been waiting until ‘when you’re ready’? Go do it. Travel, learn to sing, play the guitar, do art classes, university, this is your life, society will try and make you conform because people are scared to be true to who they are so they don’t want you to either.
Be brave. Be you. Be ready.
Now.