Life isn't waiting.
Time doesn't stop. You cannot press pause. The longer you postpone something, the more difficult it becomes.
Many people talk, but many never do. I remember so many conversations that many people told me about so many things they're planning.
All of these things sound like clichés – and perhaps so – but they are true. But it was difficult to see at the time. And it's especially difficult to see it when you're young. Because it feels like life is always here. There are always more paths. There are always other opportunities. There's no need to hurry.
Choose any city
In modern America there is a familiar path that many young people tend to follow. Move to university, graduate school, and town. Which cities are not important. You just move to the biggest, closest thing. Or, at least that's what I did.
That's a limited amount of time. You've finished at school, but you haven't actually lived your real life yet. What is real life? Marriage, children, houses outside the city. You don't have it. There's enough crap work to pay the bill. Or, if you're serious, you might do a decent first year job where you can “step into the door.”
That short period in my mid-twenties feels full of possibilities. But the possibility is fleeting and deceiving. Many people talk, but many never do. I remember so many conversations that many people told me about so many things they're planning.
“I've worked for a few years, saved a lot of money and then I'm going on a trip.”
I've heard many repetitions of this feeling. They seemed very sincere when they talked about plans to quit, travel, start a business, and do what they really want to do. But they never did. It was all about the story. It was all a dream.
It's too comfortable to fail
I'm sure they meant that when they said it. There's no doubt they really wanted to quit the job and go on an adventure. But the pay was too good. Their job was too easy. Their apartment was too nice. They became routine – and it was a great routine – and the longer it got, the more difficult it became to go outside.
I can understand. I don't blame them. If that's what you want to do, it's a good idea to do a good job and stick to it. We all live different lives, and that's a good thing. If we were all the same, the world would be boring. But it happened frequently in such similar circumstances, so I couldn't help but realize that it wasn't just people living different lives. There was something else.
It's difficult to quit a good job. It's difficult to cut your salary. It's difficult to choose more jobs (run your own business) rather than fewer jobs (being a corporate COG). Sneaking to intoxicating heights can be difficult to reduce your lifestyle.
First of all, it's a nice apartment you really don't need. And then it's a really nice car. Then it is constantly trying to eat. Then an expensive gym membership. Then whenever you feel it, you like a vacation and extra junk. Immediately I feel like I “need” all these things I didn't have just a few years ago. And you can't imagine sacrificeing them. It's off the table to quit your job and travel. Starting a business is dangerous.
It's how that happens. That's how people can escape their lives. They have a little too long. You can't imagine giving up on them because you're a little too used to what they really don't need. All they had to say was to control their lives. They're stuck now. I remember very well in my mid-20s, but I can't stop there. It is all the themes of life.
“It's not a good time.”
When it comes to having a child, the same thing can be seen. So many people – often believe it or not, the same people put off it until they are “ready.” Or that's what they're calling it. They say they need to have more money, own a house, buy a bigger house, and need work to stay quiet. “Now is not a good time.”
Honestly, they're never ready. There's no good time. There are always excuses. The longer you postpone, the more you will be pulling the trigger. And ultimately, it becomes impossible to pull the trigger. The door will eventually close. If you wait for a child to be ready, you will never be giving birth. That last sentence can be extended beyond the child.
It's going to jump
If you wait until you are ready to do it, you are never going to do it. that's it. That's all this thread. 25 years old from the city. Professional couple waiting for their children. A man who has business ideas but is so afraid that he can't make a leap.
We are all always waiting because we are scared or hesitated to make it happen. The more we delay each day, the more difficult it becomes to do what we really want to do. You'll be trapped in a permanent delay. I'm waiting for life to happen.
But life isn't waiting. It's happening all the time. Here. Right now. It's one thing we can only lose and never get. If we want to do it, we have to do it now. Time is always slipping like the sand of an hourglass
“If not now, when?”
