Many people say things like, “I’ll wait until I’m older before I start having fun.” But is this really the best approach?
Sure, it makes a lot of sense intellectually. After all, everyone is supposed to save for their retirement so they can do the things they have put off during their working years. But, in reality, it doesn’t really add up.
Time waits for no one. If you miss the opportunity to live now, it’s gone forever. You may never get the chance to spend more time with family and friends, go on that dream vacation or indulge in your favourite hobby.
In this post, we take a look at some of the reasons why you shouldn’t wait to live your life. The following reasons are essentially permission to just go for it.
4 Reasons To Start Living Now
Life Never Works Out How You Think It Will
The difference between the plan for your life and how it actually turns out can be extreme. As a child, you might have imagined becoming a brain surgeon. As an adult, you might find yourself working down a coal mine, eating a vegan diet, and married to a person who wants an open relationship.
Because life takes many twists and turns, you’re better off doing what you love now. You might not have the opportunity to do so in the future. Plus circumstances change and you may not be able to do what you want due to your or your family’s health, finances, etc.
Life Isn’t As Long As You Think
We imagine that we have infinite time in life. Eighty years seems like an eternity. However, it quickly draws to a close. Think about how quickly the years of your life have passed by already.
If you are later on in your life, it can go by even quicker. People who are 80 tend to experience the passage of time faster than those who are 20.
It may be even more accelerated if you feel joyful all the time. Life is over in the blink of an eye. You never know when your health will deteriorate and you’ll be organizing your own cremation services.
Life Isn’t Something You Can Live Through Anyone Else
There’s also the fact that you can’t live your life through anyone else. Even if you think that you can live through your children or grandhildren, it rarely works out that way.
The trick here is to realize that you are your own boss and in charge of your own time. If your life isn’t in the place where you want it to be right now, you can change it. Move, travel, be active, while you can if that is your dream.
No one else cares about your life in the same way you do. Therefore, looking to others to find fulfillment generally isn’t possible. You have to be honest about what’s important to you and then go for it. Saying that other people are in control of your life is simply making excuses.
Life Isn’t About Work Or Money
Ultimately, jobs and money don’t matter. If you don’t feel joyful in your heart, it doesn’t matter how much you have in your bank account. Of course there is a balance. Only you can decide what that is.
Try to avoid constantly striving and forgoing pleasure, believing that it will arrive in the future. While working hard makes sense to a point, it shouldn’t dominate your life right now. You could find yourself so exhausted by the time you get to financial freedom that you’re unable to enjoy it how you would like.
No matter how old you are, if you find yourself saying, “I will have time for that tomorrow.”, all the time, you need to stop and re-evaluate. Do you have the time to put off what you really want to do? You may not. Live well. Live now.