Please don’t wait too long
Patience is a virtue, until waiting too long becomes the thing that keeps us stuck. Many of us dream of dreams we may never find the courage to share with anybody else but ourselves, and even then we do it timidly. Nonetheless, once we are brave enough to dare to dream, we get stuck in a loop of imagination without action.
As we get older, just as our bodies require our muscles to be trained, we often overlook mental muscles and patterns that require attention as well. Thus, we need to train the muscle that helps us accept failure — the one that puts us out there and lets us meet new people, just like when we were kids, except a whole lot more awkward — and the muscle that lets us continue to dream big.
Don’t wait for inspiration
Don’t wait for all your ideas to be thought through to the tiniest detail for them to be justified. Just as the author Elizabeth Gilbert mentioned in the book Big Magic, inspiration is fleeting. Inspiration does not wait for those who do not aspire to take action with what has been gifted. Therefore, it will look for the next person who is ready to honor inspiration for what it is and what it could be.
Don’t wait to tell others about how you feel
Please don’t wait to tell those you love how you truly feel. Far more often than we believe, those we love may not be aware that they are loved — even when this is as clear as day for us. Love needs reminders: gentle ones, loud ones, big ones.
Love requires the courage for us to be vulnerable.
Love requires us to be honest.
Love does not ask for justification.
Let those you love know how you feel, too.
Don’t wait for the right time to rest
I used to believe that the right to rest needed to be earned, and only when it was no longer possible for me to set one foot in front of the other. What a stupid idea that was. I am in my late twenties and regret not having spent more time traveling to other countries because I never had time (or money… or both), yet I also understand that I did not allow myself to prioritize joy in resting.
I am glad to be able to say that I still have time to travel the world. This time, I am actually doing it.
Please don’t wait until you are ready, decide to be
Also note that this sentence should not be taken out of context — I am strictly speaking about situations where you are not being coerced to do something you definitely do not want to do.
That being said, what I mean is: that one creative project you have been wanting to do, a skill or craft you have been meaning to learn, or the dream you are trying to chase. For the sake of not trying to be perceived as “cringe,” many may find themselves stuck in a life where “what if” will never meet “now I know.”
Conclusion
There are many cases where waiting is certainly worth it and where it absolutely makes sense. Waiting too long, however, when it comes to saying YES to ourselves, may lead to a life where some part of us will always feel unfulfilled.
Don’t let your dreams stay dreams. What is the smallest step you could take TODAY that might make a small difference for your tomorrow?
Be brave, fail forward, and lead your dreams,
Soso