It seems an obvious thing–to realize that our time on earth, and with our loved ones, is limited. It should be especially obvious to me this year when I’ve lost family members and friends. But for some reason I continually find myself thinking, “That can wait. I’ll have plenty of time for that later.” And by “that” I mean: losing weight, volunteering my time to help others, figuring out what I want to be when I grow up…the list goes on.

Turning 40 this year put a hyper-focus on the fact that I may be half-way through my life (if I’m lucky) and procrastination is no longer the order of the day. Maybe you’ve already learned this lesson and you’re making the most of your time. But not me. Not yet.

I’ve been waiting to clean up the pile on my dresser until a rainy day comes along (and, as anyone living in South Texas knows, in that case I may be waiting until snow plows head to Hades).

I’ve been waiting to lose weight, to take care of my body, to exercise more and to be committed to improving my health because, you know, I can get to that next week, next month, next year. Yesterday I admitted to a friend that I’d been claiming I’d make my health a priority since I was 23: “I’ll get healthy and lose weight by the time I’m 25. Yeah! That gives me two solid years to put in an effort and change my body so I can become attractive, meet a wonderful guy, get married and have kids.” Ahem. 17 years later and I’m still convinced I’ll put down my fork next week and hop on a treadmill regularly one day soon. It hasn’t happened yet.

I’ve been waiting to go live with this new blog because I wanted to write more first. I wanted to tweak it before launching. I wanted it to be perfect which means, essentially, that I would never have published it.

Lately, a voice is screaming inside my head:

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Should I spend time freaking out about all of the time I’ve lost by procrastinating, all of the goals I haven’t achieved? Or do I take a new, fresh approach and start a clock in my head that constantly ticks in the background reminding me, “Hey, chick. Get busy. Time’s a’ wastin’!”

This blog is now live. It’s out there. It’s not perfect. I think that answers the question. And now, about that exercise…

photo credit: SXC 

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