Don't wait to go on the cruise

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My grandparents, Janet and Dale, weren’t big into traveling. They didn’t explore many unknown places, and I don’t recall hearing about many vacations aside from an occasional camping or casino trip with their best friends.

They didn’t have the money to travel. But my grandma wanted to get out and see the world.

In early 2015, my grandma decided she was finally going to go on a cruise with her best friend. From what I can recall, going on a cruise was something she always wanted to do, but like most of us with our grand hopes and dreams, she hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

The cruise-goers chose their destination and began planning their grand vacation. When we spoke on the phone about it, her voice radiated with an excitement that felt different from our conversations about our normal, daily lives. Looking back, I realize it’s because she was unleashing buried dreams. Magic emanates from deep inside our bodies when we finally tune in to what we want in life.

And then, she met an unexpected medical emergency that claimed her life. An unleashed buried dream quickly turned into something she didn’t get to do in her 62 (almost 63) years on this planet.

I live with an ever-present ache for her and the fact that she never made it to the cruise. But even brighter than the sadness in this story is the gift she left behind: a necessary reminder of the urgency to act and the permission not to wait.

Most, if not all of us, sit in a state of perpetual postponement with various dreams, desires, and wants in our lives. We wait for the perfect time, comprising the perfect amount of resources (money, time, health, life stage, courage, permission). We dangerously assume there will be some magical future point at which we can act on what we want. And sometimes there are real barriers we must consider. But more often than not, we stand in our own way.

When I find myself in perpetual postponement, I lean on a simple phrase to decide whether said postponed action is one I’m really worth potentially never doing: Don’t wait to go on the cruise.

Now, I don’t currently have the desire to go on a cruise (convince me otherwise?), but this phrase immediately transports me into a place of examining what’s worth postponing (or not).

Maybe one of your loved ones met a similar fate and didn’t get to (fill in the blank). Or maybe you can use a dream that will motivate you to limit your postponements and (fill in your own blank). And when in doubt, you can always come back to my story and phrase to carry with you.

No matter the case, please remember:

• Waiting comes without guarantee, and we don’t know how much time we will be fortunate to get

• Ideal conditions and perfect timing live inside our minds, not in the real world

• You’ll never “feel” ready because ready is a decision you make

• There’s a difference between “not now” (strategic decisions) and “someday” (indefinite postponement) — give yourself constraints to prevent endless inaction

What better tribute to those who ran out of time than to use yours?

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I’m Alyssa Towns, and this is Time Intentional, a newsletter exploring what it means to spend our limited (and precious) time intentionally. Extend your love and support by sharing this newsletter with someone you know, or…

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