Mortality: There’s Always Next Year
Farmers and gardeners have a saying: “There’s always next year.” There’s next year to plant differently, water differently, fertilize differently, arrange differently, etc. There’s always next year.
I hear Klown say, after he fails to create or complete our annual front yard Halloween display, “next year I will_____.” I hear other people make the same sort of statements. I make them as well, at times.
Having my mom visit, however, reminds me that at some point, there won’t be a “next year.” Eventually, we run out of years. Or maybe we have plenty of years, but no health or mobility to enjoy them.
Which is why it’s important to take advantage of the opportunities we have to do things. To do new things. To do old things differently. To do, not to just be. To spend time thinking, not filling our thinking space with non-thought. That television show, that video game. those things that take no thought and create an inactive stasis for your mind and body, should not exist on your daily to-do list.
Do you have dreams? I do. I have dreams that I work toward every day. I have a gift, something to give, even if it is just to myself, but I need to be using it. Opportunities abound for me to follow my dreams. If I don’t achieve them, let it not be because I didn’t try, or created my own obstacles.
Excuses for lack of success, for lack of follow through, are just that: excuses. You have no one to blame but yourself. Waiting until you are thinner, healthier, have more time don’t get you to your goals or your dreams. It is easy to say that the time isn’t right, but the reality is, the time is always right.
I don’t want to put my faith in “next year.” I want to take each opportunity, each moment, and make it important. I want to do, not just be. I don’t regret my busy life. I don’t regret rushing through the laundry, or dishes, or dinner, or yard work, so I can go do. I want to spend time in the mountains, I want to spend time writing, I want to spend time with my friends, I want to take the opportunity to enjoy music and art and the outdoors. I will never be thin enough, young enough, fit enough, rich enough. Waiting for those things to happen is a waste of precious time. The years are not going to forgive me. Time continues to march on.
I don’t have to do something incredible and famous to be successful. Being successful is all about following your dreams, and doing instead of being.
So, what are you doing with yourself today? What goal are you working on? How are you caring for yourself? How are you building the future you want yourself to have?
Are you be-er? Or a do-er?
