Do what YOU want to do! This is something that I have been wrestling with for years and still have much more to do. Many of us spend our entire lives helping and caring for others that we completely forget about ourselves. We had dreams, didn’t we? The hopes and dreams are still there right?! It is now time to break the cycle. I give you permission! Maybe that will help.
So, I have been paying attention to a lot of my surroundings and I had an interesting conversation with my mother. My mother has always done for others her entire life. And once she had kids that was pretty much the end. That lady sacrificed everything for her kids as they were growing up. Still does come to think of it.
My sister and I grew up without a father and it was up to my mother to go all chips in. She did and she did amazing! In the mid-seventies, my mom joined the ARMY to give my sister and me a better life. A stable one. Women in the military during that era were insane. Sexual harassment, low pay, and menial jobs to boot. Sadly, it seems as if much hasn’t changed.
Day in and day out my mom sacrificed for us. Even in love, she sacrificed. She didn’t want to expose us to relationships that could potentially fail so that we wouldn’t have to go through that. She sacrificed love. So much so that to this day she is still single, because she became so accustomed to being alone and being disappointed. It sucks because she is such a strong woman.
The point is that she didn’t take the time to do the things she wanted to do. I have realized a pattern with her and we spoke of this. She is in her mid-seventies and has MS, so no one knows how long we will have her here with us. Her mindset currently is to make triple payments on her house so that it will be paid off sooner. Basically, so that the kids wouldn’t have to contribute to the home when she passes.
That’s just dumb! I told her to only pay the actual payments and spend her money on experiences or fixing up the house as she enjoys. Don’t wait til the timing is right. It never is, I promise you. I myself am a victim of this. Now I understand my habits and patterns and I am working hard to change this. I have other goals in life that carry over onto those goals but at the end of the day, some of the long-term goals are worth deviating from just a smidge in order to do something I want now.
This doesn’t mean being irresponsible in any way. Don’t do things that you will regret in order to have instant gratification now. This could backfire for you. I am more meaning if you have the fund’s let’s say for a nice trip for you and your girl, do it now! We are not guaranteed that we will wake tomorrow morning. It is my understanding that more than one million people will not wake tomorrow morning.
Conclusion
If you have the ability to do something you have always wanted to do, do it now. Live your life, live with no regrets. You have a short life and playing things safe isn’t always the best course. In my opinion, it almost never is worth playing it safe. You will be staying inside the lines and you’ll never get to experience all the wonderful joys in this world that way. Do what you want to do! Do it now!!
Question
What did you do today that you have been wanting to do? Did you see what I just did there?! 😉
