Our ideals, dreams, plans, whatever we decide to call them follow us. The 16, 18, and 25-year-old us had these “whatever you call it” and the aspirations don’t go away. They may leave you alone for a little while, but you can bet your life the reminders will continue to come. What stops us from obtaining an ideal, dream, or plan that is a part of who we are and what we want? Excuses. Excuses are the invalid reasoning we tell ourselves to delay our ideals for yet, another year or five. When the excuse of needing to maintain our lifestyles gets old, we move to the excuse of it being too late. How could we be the ones to say it is too late for something we’ve acted as if time was unlimited to accomplish? How evil can one be to themselves? Very.
We will tell ourselves for years or decades we have all the time in the world by postponing our dream life. Somewhere in the years of lies to ourselves, procrastination, and self-sabotage, we flip the script and begin pushing this “it’s too late” narrative. An instant transition from you can do it later to it’s too late. Yes, this is evil for a person to do to another person. It is the ultimate evil to do to ourselves. Yet, we do it. We tell ourselves it’s too late to do this or it’s too late to do that, but it isn’t. Outside of wanting to become a professional sports player after 35 years of age, everything is possible. Do you want to go back to school? Go. Do you want to travel more? Do so. Would you like to become a lawyer, dentist, or doctor? Do so. Yes, it’s a lot of schooling, but schooling is not restricted to 20-something-year-olds who move directly toward their goals. Get your “old” behind up and get to it.
We must stop asking ourselves hard questions like “Where would I be now if I had done it?” and replace the question with “Where am I going to be five years after I do it?” The first question puts us in a negative state-of-mind filled with regret. The second admits we have work pending but does not focus on the past. It focuses on the future in which all is possible. Some may feel or tell you it is too late for whatever your new endeavor involves, but they are wrong. If you need proof, do a little research on what it is you’d like to accomplish. Take a look at the most successful people in the industry. There is a great chance they are your age or older. What does that mean? It means it cannot be too late. It means you still have time. It means you can no longer lie to yourself with the bogus reasoning that used to work on you. We are not going to waste time being upset with ourselves, either. We have too much work to do. The only thing we need to tell ourselves is congratulations. Congratulations on starting and overcoming the biggest obstacle in the way of our goal.
In closing, it is only too late for more excuses. People of all ages are needed and wanted in society. If you fear being the oldest person at your job, vacation, or graduating class, think about the person who will find it a perk having someone who has lived a more life than them to ask questions and bounce ideas off. You are what the world needs. Giving yourself more excuses to delay getting out there is negatively impacting more than yourself. Is it too late? Hell no. Now, get to work.
Food for thought. You do the dishes!
