Yesterday I woke up late. I work the graveyard shift and it really takes a toll on my ability to get rest. So when I have a day where I don’t have to do anything, I sleep. But the downside is that I hate to sleep the day away because it is so unproductive. I had the idea that I would sleep for as long as I needed, then get up and go for a nice mountain bike ride before I would have to go to work. So yesterday I slept a long time, 9 hours. I woke up and immediately saw that time was short and my mountain bike ride would most likely have to wait, it wasn’t “the right time” for me to leave. I sat down, a bit upset that I wouldn’t be riding, and prepared to have something to eat and watch a movie. I couldn’t get over the fact that I had slept so long and had to miss going for a ride. Then a thought hit me…why couldn’t I go for a ride? Just because I got up later than I had anticipated, there was no good reason for me to not get out on my bicycle and have a good time for an hour or two, other than it wasn’t what I had planned as being “the right time” to leave my house. So I put on my gear and went for a ride….and I had a great time!
When is the perfect time? I know that many of us have some sort of plan in mind to do something, whether it is to travel, fix the roof, get an oil change for the car, etc, but we usually are waiting for “the right time”. It seems that “the right time” never really comes along, and whatever we had planned on doing either has to be done out of desperation, for instance now that leaky roof has become a small waterfall and HAS to be fixed, or we don’t get a chance to do it at all, like travel before failing health makes it impossible. Why do we do this?! What makes us keep procrastinating? Why do we put off doing fun things or fail to get necessary things completed merely because we feel that timing is a factor that should be taken into account?
I blame society’s crazy rules. We have grown up and been indoctrinated into believing that we should plan out everything in our lives. We save up for vacations, Christmas, home repairs and continually plan when those things will impact our lives the best. Yet we never seem to understand that the longer we wait, the more reasons we will find to say that the timing isn’t right. How easy it is to say, I can’t fix the roof today because it might rain this afternoon, or it is just too hot? Have you ever heard a young couple talk about when they are going to have a child, yet what is keeping them from the amazing adventure of being parents is that it isn’t “the right time”? It is because we all believe that we have to be completely prepared for whatever it is we are planning, that every detail needs to be taken into account and provided for. But we don’t know what we don’t know….and will never be able to plan for everything.
So the next time that it seems easier to procrastinate because the plan has changed or doesn’t fit easily into “the right time” idea, stop and think. Is there ever really going to be a “right time”? Or could you take control of your own life and decide that NOW is the “right time”? The more you do this, the more you will realize that anything is possible at any time. Don’t let an imaginary rule stop you from living your life the way YOU want to live it, and when you want to live it……
As for me, I think I’ll go for another ride….right now
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