Mark Twain once said that “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.”
As my high school basketball coach would say, don’t live life saying, “if only, or could’a, should’a, would’a.” If you could, should, or would, then do it, and don’t wait.
I remember being young when you have your life in front of you, all those possibilities of the future. The “world is your oyster” was an old saying, although I’m not sure where that came from or really what it means. I like oysters and all…, but anyway, when you have time in front of you and the story has yet to be written, it can be fun and exciting to think about what’s ahead.
And then, time passes. It passes quickly. Each year seems to come and go and then one day we wake up and we’re a little (or a lot) older than we used to be, and maybe life didn’t quite go as we planned or hoped. Maybe life threw a curveball, and we were looking for a fastball and we struck out looking. Maybe things went sideways, and maybe it wasn’t our fault. Life isn’t fair they say…and they’re right.
I’m proud of my parents for many reasons, but especially because they went on a bucket list trip last year. They went to Hawaii. This was a place they had wanted to go for a long time, and it took a little encouragement from their kids (my brothers and I) to give them a little nudge to do it now, “before it’s too late”. So, they did it, and now I know they won’t be disappointed in twenty years that they didn’t do it.
Maybe you have already traveled the world, achieved great things, made big promotions, had lots of children, served your community, or lived a “full life”. Or maybe things haven’t gone as we’d hoped. Either way, if you are reading this article then you’ve made it to the year 2024. You are living in the future. We were supposed to have flying cars by now too, but I don’t see those yet.
No matter how things have turned out, if you have today, then you have something. Maybe it’s not too late to do that thing you had always wanted. And if you can’t go big, then go small. It’s never too late to reach out to an old high school friend, a family member you haven’t talked to in a while, or to learn how to use an iPad or a computer. Maybe you just want to go to the beach again, learn how to play pickleball, or take a cruise on the Merrimack River. There are lots of things to do, so as we start a new year, maybe think of something you’ve always wanted to do, and go for it. After all, you may be more disappointed by those things you don’t do than what you do do. Can I say do do in a sentence? Well, I just did. Happy New Year everyone!
