The Hidden Cost of Delaying Your Dreams
Don’t Wait Forever
Dear Reader,
As humans, we are natural procrastinators. We carry within us a sense of eternity that whispers: there’s always more time. We postpone rest during the week, because Saturday and Sunday will surely arrive. We delay trying a new restaurant because a friend can’t make it. We push dream vacations from this year into the next. In short — we are experts at postponing life.
Science tells us we should sleep seven to nine hours each night. That means nearly a third of our lives is spent asleep. Depending on where you live and how you commute, work might take up another ten to twelve hours of your day. Add family responsibilities — especially the invisible, unpaid labor that often goes unnoticed —and the time left just for yourself becomes scarce.
That’s why I don’t believe everyone truly has the same twenty-four hours. On paper, yes. But in reality, the challenges we carry are not equal. For many, after work, family, and obligations, there may only be one to four hours left to call their own. And we are not solitary creatures — we are community beings, constantly connected to others who depend on us.
So I ask: why waste the little time you truly own? If something brings joy to your heart and harms no one, why delay it? Life is not an endless resource.
Remember: the average life expectancy is about seventy-three years. Let that number sink in. At eighteen, a quarter of life has already passed. By thirty-six, you are halfway there. At fifty-four, the countdown becomes undeniable. I only grasped this truth when I lost my father at seventy — still young in so many ways.
So tell me — how long will you keep postponing opening that small beachside café you dream about? How long until you say I love you without hesitation? How long until you surprise your mother with a visit, or spend more time with the ones who love you most? Spreadsheets will never smile at you the way your dog does when you pet them, or the way your children do when you play together.
Remember: you will never be younger than you are right now. So start. Start small if you must. Start with what you have. But start.
References
Image: Passage urban with pedestrians by wal_172619