Back in the day I quit my job, dropped out of school, and bought a one-way ticket to Europe just because I wanted to go there and I was sick of all the excuses I would come up with for NOT doing it. I remember telling my friends what I was doing and they would always reply "That's awesome! I've always wanted to do that!", but when I invited them they would invariably decline with several reasons why they couldn't; "my job..." or "my car...." or "but school...".
Now while I don't think that everyone should drop out of society to go on a European escapade, I do think that people in general get so tied down with all their responsibilities and possessions that they miss out on a lot of things that they always wanted to do. We use our job, our bill, our payments, or family as excuses not to do anything fun and exciting. Do you really want to be that old person that has a whole list of things they WISH they would have done?!
So back to me and my old age. I'm NOT old, but sometimes I feel it. It is really hard not to get caught up in the complexities of life. How hard is it to call a company and make reservations to go skydiving? NOT hard (skydiving is amazing, by the way; I highly recommend it. Even for those of you that are scared of heights). How hard is it to make a trip to a coast and go SCUBA diving? NOT hard (although a little costly, it is a LOT of fun; more fun than skydiving, in my opinion). They don't have to be that extravagant, either. How about camping in the rockies? Or going rafting? Learning another language? The list could go on and on, but the excuses are the same. We all have our reasons for NOT doing what we really want to. If we do it and then decide that it's not for us; that's OK. At least we tried it and we KNOW that we don't like it.
I used to do all sorts of crazy things; I would do some of them on a whim, too. I still have a huge list of things I want to do, but I've started spewing those same excuses. I like living life, and I want to experience as much as I can before I really do get old.
If you find yourself putting off things you really want to do, I challenge you to pick at least one thing and make an effort to do it. Put work, your car, and all the boring day to day routines aside and go try something new! Who knows, you might surprise yourself and find something you really enjoy!
