If not now, when?
What are you giving up by delaying something you’ve been mulling over for months or years? What are you giving up by being scared to live life one day at a time and trust that all will turn out as it should?
A friend and I were discussing a major life decision he has repeatedly deflected. I told him that when the time is right he will be compelled to do what will make him happy.
We have very little control over our free will. The motivation to do something vs the friction in doing it is the most individual calculus that exists. These impulses, either motivating change or holding us back, come from years of conditioning, and live deep within our consciousness.
So trying to reason why we haven’t made a change is futile. We can never know. However this doesn’t absolve us from being more aware of why.
In understanding the ‘why’, the tragedy would be ignoring the opportunity cost of sticking with more of the same, such as crippling anxiety, strained relationships, sub-par performance at work, or a life only partially lived.
When this cost is understood it will calibrate our motivation to change. If today it still doesn’t provide enough impetus to change then maybe it will tomorrow.
The rub is that there aren’t infinite tomorrows. One day that tomorrow will need to be today.
So again, if not now, when?
Pause. Breathe, and quiet the NOISE.
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