Land Ahoy!
One evening, I was walking along the water. The tide was high, and the waves were arriving with surprising force, throwing themselves against the shore and retreating almost immediately. I stood there watching them for a while. And then an old expression came back to me: Time and tide wait for nobody. Standing there beside the water, I started thinking about how remarkably true it is. Not just about time. About life. We are constantly waiting for the “right time”. The right time to take the trip, learn to play the guitar. Climb that mountain. Tell someone how we feel, call an old friend, to start something we have been thinking about for years. And slowly, waiting becomes a habit. We tell ourselves: when work settles down, I have more money, children are older or somehow when things are less complicated, will be the right time to take the first step. And then one day we discover something rather uncomfortable: Life did not stop while we were waiting. This need not be an argument for rushing through life. Quite the opposite. My understanding being, best to do what is right for that moment. A young person may have a particular freedom to travel now, one that becomes harder later. There may be a period in your career when taking a risk does not make sense, or a particular situation when learning something new does not feel natural. Or a temporary reason why you cannot make a person yours for now. And that’s OK. But, there are situations where timing matters. You cannot forever postpone telling your father something you have always wanted him to know, or ask them out while they are still single, or learning how to ski while you are at your physical best. It’s when later disguises itself as a decision. Do we need to remind ourselves of the proverb? As later can be a very persuasive word. We understand intellectually that time is passing. But emotionally, we behave as though we have an unlimited supply of it. The truth is that, biologically, we don't. And that doesn't have to be frightening. It can actually be liberating. Because once you remember that your time is finite, some decisions become surprisingly simple. You begin to notice what you have been putting off, who you miss and what still makes you curious. You begin to hear the little voice saying: I'd really like to do that. Maybe that voice deserves a more attention. Because somewhere within you is an ‘I love you’, or ‘I miss you’ that never got out. None of these things need to become a grand life project. Perhaps we simply need to become a little better at recognizing when something matters. What in your life is waiting, for you to stop waiting? And when it does, perhaps “later” doesn't always deserve the final word. Until tomorrow, Bob
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