“She never even got to go to Yellowstone.” the old man said sadly to the police officer and paramedic who were standing in his crowded but homey and warm living room. The fresh pain was evident in his weak and shaky voice and, in this one simple sentence, so much was made clear. The sadness of vacations that would never be taken, sites that would never be seen, and the regret of a life not fully lived were all painfully evident. An hour ago, these were all things they could do “someday” or “next summer” or “after the next big thing gets done”. Now, they were simply things that would never, ever happen. She was gone and nothing could change that. 

She would never see Yellowstone.

Like so many things in life, a lesson can be found in this man’s pain. We all have things we want to do, achievements we’d like to achieve, places we want to visit. We all have so much life we want to live. Yet, time and time again we waste our day. We consistently do things with little value for people who don’t matter, all the while robbing our time and attention from people and things that really do matter. We spend time on the internet reading about places we will never go and waste evenings watching television only to dream about the adventures we see on the screen.  Why? Why are you waiting to take that trip, to start that new business, to get in shape, to fix that broken relationship, to ask that girl out? 

Why are you not living life for today? 

What are you waiting for?

Tomorrow will be too late. You, your wife, your kids, could be gone. Those you cherish, those who do matter to you, could be taken in a blink. You don’t know the future and no one can tell you what lies ahead. All you can do is live every day to its fullest. Don’t think about all of the things you could do, simply do those things. Act and make it happen.

What can you do to ensure you are doing the right things? First, take time to identify the things and people that are important to you. If you don’t know what you want in life or what is important to you, how can you ensure you are focused on the right things? Be deliberate about determining what your priorities are. Second, once you have determined your priorities, make sure that the things you are doing, the time you are spending, the effort you are putting forward are moving those important things forward or deepening and improving your key relationships. If you find that the things you are doing are not helping you with your key priorities, simply stop doing those things. 

Stop wasting time. 

You don’t have the time to waste. 

–Anonymous

This article was sent in by a Reader, it struct a solid chord with me. This is the time of year more people pass away. Suicides go up. Loneliness sets in. I would implore you to reach out to those that are hurting, a simple word may all that they need.

Are you the one hurting then reach out. If you are reading these words my DMs are open. @steeljanz Drop me a email. Lets chat.