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Stop Waiting, Take The Chance And Start Living |
Looking back on my younger days, I find it incredibly ironic how much of my life I spent listening to Pink Floyd, whose hit song “Time” is specifically about not sitting around and letting life pass you by.
But, like oh so many high school and college students, I wasted a lot of my time in the short- and long-term. I would sleep late on Saturdays, lose hours “hanging out” with friends and scrolling through Facebook and Tumblr endlessly.
In the long-term, I also was never sure what I wanted to do with my life, so I drifted through the easiest college courses, never really pushing myself to do better. It wasn’t until I hit around 25 that I realized I’d missed a large chunk of my life for absolutely no reason. The “good times” I’d had weren’t that great, and, in truth, I was always just passing time until something better came along.
What I realized is that nothing simply “comes along.” Life is what you make of it. If you’re unhappy with something in your life, there is nothing stopping you from making moves to change it.
My problem in college was that I’d figured I’d already sunk time and money into studying toward one degree, so switching majors in the middle of my college career would be a hassle. Well, it would have been a minor hassle then, but it’s a major hassle now that I’m in the real world without a clue of where to go from here.
If I were able to go back in time and visit my younger self, first I would smack the beer can out of his hand and tell him to read more. Then, I would tell him to, as Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption says,”get busy livin’, or get busy dyin’.”
Stop Waiting, Go Out and Live Life
1. Good things don’t come to those who wait
The idea that good things come to those who wait works for children who rely on their parents for everything they desire in life. Once you have control of your own life, you need to go out and earn everything you desire and hope for in the world.
You’ll certainly need to be patient, such as when waiting for a call back after an interview, but you shouldn’t waste the time in-between just waiting for your phone to ring. In this world, you’ll reap while you sow, so you better make hay while the sun shines (ugh, two metaphors in one sentence. I apologize).