What are you waiting for?

"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 that we seek."

Barack Obama

Today is about not putting your life on hold and waiting to do the things you love.

If we don't live the life we want now or we're waiting to be happy, then we die full of regrets.  I am a woman living in my 70s so I ask myself every day, what am I waiting for?

When is the best time to do what you want?

Is it when the bills are paid off, you have enough money, the kids leave home when you have more time?...you fill in the blanks.

We wait for the "right" time. For the best job, for the next raise, the perfect house, the best time to do what we want. 

My 13-year-old grand-nephew was diagnosed 4 months ago with a brain tumor. It was malignant. The day before he was diagnosed he was a normal kid playing baseball.

Life can turn you completely upside down. And inside out.

One minute you could be sitting on your backyard deck drinking your coffee and feeling that everything is in order and the next there's a phone call, a headache, a wrong turn, and your life is unrecognizable and you're in crisis mode trying to survive or you're watching a loved one suffer.

It happens just like that.

Okay, so you might be thinking, Jo, you are being gruesome and you're scaring me.

I get it.

It’s hard to talk about all this and sometimes we need to shake ourselves out of being hypnotized by life and all the things that don't really matter.

Now is not the time to be hard on yourself, comparing yourself to others, doubting if you can do something. Or thinking that you have to be perfect. 

Now is the time to let go of all the self-doubt.  It's the time to trust yourself and be and do what you want. 

Because...in this age of a global pandemic that roars back stronger than ever, in the era of an unprecedented climate crisis, seeing devastation after devastation...we'd better get on board and figure out how we want to live our lives. 

Now is the time to take stock of your life and think about what you're not doing or not loving about yourself. 

Now is the time to live your life, fully and completely. 

We are not guaranteed anything. All we have is ourselves and how we view the world. And I do believe we have the power within us to let go of the fear and just do what we want to do. 

Can I have an AMEN? 

Yes. 

What IS important to you?

Sit yourself down right now and get clear. 

Make a list right now of the top 5 things that are important to you.

Let go of anything that holds you back so that you don't say on your deathbed..."I wish I had..."

Do it now. 

1. Check yourself: how much of your time is dedicated to those top values?
2. What is it that brings you the most pleasure in life?
3. What if you had just weeks, days, to live? What would you be doing?

Write it all down. Think about any changes you need to be made so that you can live with your values right at the top.

This life is so short. We think it's going to last forever but it won't.

Take charge and do what you love now.

Don't wait.