"It gets late early out there." - Yogi Berra A participant at a recent conference asked in the Q & A, "How did you come up with the title of your upcoming book Someday is not a day in the week"
I told her, "I've met so many people over the past few years who talked about what they were going to do ... someday.
Whether it was take more time for their family, take better care of themselves, or pursue a passion project ... they told me they planned (or hoped) to do it when they're not so busy, when their kids go off to college, when they retire, when they have more money, when things aren't so crazy at work ... fill in the blank.
I shared Henry Miller's quote with the group, 'Life, for many of us, is one long postponement" and told them that many of us wait for perfect circumstances to take action on our dreams and passion projects.
The problem with that? Our future is not guaranteed. The longer we wait, the more likely it is we'll never do what we want to do and we'll end up with regrets."
How about you? What is something you want to do you've been postponing? What is something meaningful that could fill your life with joy, purpose and meaning?
Please read and re-read Paulo Coelho's quote, "One day you're going to wake up and there won't be any time left to do the things you've always wanted to do."
It's time to stop waiting and start initiating. You will never regret doing more of what puts the light on in your eyes, you will only regret not doing it sooner.
You don't have to quit your job or abandon your responsibilities, just do one thing each week that makes you like your life. It doesn't have to be grandiose. Just one thing you enjoy and look forward to that makes you a bit happier and healthier."
You might want to read the quotes below and select one that really sings to you. Print it out or write it out and tape it to your laptop or post it above your desk or on your frig. Keep it in sight, in mind so you keep your promise to make the rest of your life the best of your life.
"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears." - Nelson Mandela
"You can't be that kid standing at the top of the water slide, over-thinking it. You've got to go down the chute." - Tina Fey
"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't; you'll find an excuse." - Jim Rohn
"Are you doing what you're doing today because it works; or because it's what you were doing yesterday?" - Dr. Phil McGraw
"Our life expands or contracts in proportion to our courage." - Anais Nin
"Let us always be open to the miracle of a second chance." - Rev. David Steir
"I have heard every excuse in the book, except a good one." - Bob Greene
"Are you putting aside what you want most for what you want now?" - Zig Ziglar
"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis." - M. W. Bonano
"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere." - Belle from Beauty in the Beast
"Don't just follow your dreams; launch them." - Sam Horn
"The trouble is, you think you have time." -Buddha
"Everything you want is on the other side of fear." - Jack Canfield
"Once you've done the mental work, there comes a point you have to throw yourself into action and put your heart on the line." - Phil Jackson
"Perhaps we never really appreciate anything until it is challenged." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
"When we neglect what matters most to us, then that becomes what's the matter with us." -Paula Reeves
"The scariest moment is always right before you start." - Stephen King
"To feel, think, love and learn; surely that is being alive and young in the real sense."- Freya Stark
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change we seek." - Barack Obama
"Some people get stuck because they keep telling themselves stories about how stuck they are." - Anonymous
"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." - C.S. Lewis
"We are what we settle for." - Janis Joplin
"Tomorrow is another day. But so was yesterday." - Rene Ricard
"Nothing will work, unless you do." - Maya Angelou
"I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day." - Albert Camus
"The bad news is, time flies. The good news is, you're the pilot." - M. Altschuler
"Don't tell it like it is, tell it like you want it to be." - Esther Hicks
"The most important things aren't things." - Ann Landers
"We don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with you one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver
"I didn't change. I just woke up." - Pinterest post (I wrote about this here.)
"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." - Pablo Picasso (Also attributed to David Viscott)
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan
"My parents always told me I wouldn't amount to anything because I procrastinated so much. I told them, 'Just you wait.'" - Judy Tenuta
"Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun." - Randy Pausch (Click here to discover why many of us only have FUN when our work is DONE).
Please understand, one of these days is none of these days.
Hope this post and these quotes inspire you to set something in motion today that creates a life that's more in alignment with your values and true priorities.
Remember, we're never too OLD for NEW dreams ... and there is no present like the time - and no time like the present - to do more of what puts the light on in your eyes.
