What's wrong with right now?

Are you procrastinating? Are you not doing what you want to do with your life. Is there something you think you want to do and haven't started yet? Well start. Right now. Take one step towards doing it. Then take another. What's wrong with right now?

If you want to paint and you have nothing to paint with make a list of art supplies and put it in your wallet so that you can get them next time you are out. If the store is open go buy them now if you have the money. If you don't have the money see if you have something to sell, something you bought that you think you might need some day but deep down you know you won't because it's just something you bought to distract you from what was missing in your life.

If you want to write, grab a pen and write something. Write a short story, write an article, write a poem, write something. Right now. Write a comment at the end of this blog post. Write something.

Whatever it is you want to do start right this moment. Do something as a start towards whatever your goal is. You don't have to finish, you just have to start.

It's time to stop with the excuses right now. Because I know you've already started with the "but I can't because..." or "easy for her to say..." or "I can't afford it..." You've started haven't you?

One of the biggest excuses that people have for not starting is because they've gotten so far away from what they love to do they've forgotten what it is. If you are unsure of what you want to do it's time for a paradigm shift.

What I find happens is that often people get caught up in feeling they know there is something they want to do but think it has to be a sort of work thing, a job, a way of making a living that they enjoy. The first step to figuring out what your passion is to figure out something you would do even if they didn't pay you. Take money out of the equation. What would you be doing if money wasn't in the equation? What would you do with your free time?

Find out what you love to play at, not what you want to work at. Is it knitting? Gardening? Often it's our hobby, something we've always put last, passed off as insignificant and the last thing you do because somehow we think it's irrelevant because it's just "play". That's what we've been conditioned to think. A strong work ethic is a good thing but isn't it better to work at something you love to do? I'm betting there are those who would think that me, just sitting at the computer writing little essays and fiction novels and publishing little keepsake books is just playing. Well to all of them I say "Damned right it is"! It's downright fun and that's why I'm doing it! I absolutely love writing and it's not work! I would do it all day long every day. I don't but I certainly would love to!

And you know what else? I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. My house is relatively clean, my kids are well cared for, I'm happier and more present in my life and I've never been more satisfied. In fact the only time I don't feel completely balanced is if I don't get a chance to write so I've taken to taking notebooks and camera with me just in case something to comes with me and like a spring that has suddenly broken through the surface of the earth bubbling forth and running down the rocks the creativity in me is bursting. If I'm not actually writing I'm looking around for inspiration and see it in places I never would have looked when I wasn't actively being a writer.

I had a conversation with my husband about the hockey player Alex Ovechkin. We're both hockey fans but it's his passion. For those who aren't familiar he's the greatest hockey player on the planet right now. He's also a character, he's funny and so full of personality he actually upsets people, they call him a show boater and are very negative about his behaviour.

I've watched him and I see it really differently. I see a very happy, goofy guy. I see him living his dream. Wow! How can you NOT be excited? We were talking about his recent escapade and I said to my husband "He just loves it so much, he would do it for free". And that right there is the secret.

What is it that you love to do that you would do for free? That's what you are supposed to be doing. My grade 4 teacher had a great influence on me and I'm not sure she entirely understands to what degree. She only taught a couple of years and then worked part-time and raised a family. After her children were raised she went back to University and completed a fine arts degree but even before that she was responsible for setting up a rug hooking guild in the province of Newfoundland and was responsible for bringing this almost lost art back, rescuing it from near obscurity. She didn't do it for money, she did it because it was her passion and eventually was rewarded with the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador for her efforts.

Now while my teacher was a wonderful teacher what has inspired me as much as the year she taught me in school is the way she's lived her life since that time. She has made some choices that were difficult and maybe even unpopular but she's living a happier and better life because of it and doing what she loves. That's inspiring.

Look into your heart and see what it is that you love to do. It's likely not something you work at but something you play at. Make the shift in your thinking and you will find your passion.

And then, what's wrong with starting it right now? Can you come up with a better moment than the one you happen to be in? Start a blog about your hobby. Write some articles, start an Etsy shop and sell your crafts. Right now. Get Googling and start your dream. This is the moment you have been given. Use it wisely.

This is the moment
Begin living today
Take the first step
Don't get in your own way

Justifications, excuses
Let them all go
Now in this moment
They’re your primary foe

Right in this moment
The one you are in
Take hold of your life
Now let it begin!

You'll have all your dreams
if you simply allow
This is the moment
What's wrong with right now?



Comments

Anonymous said…
I love "right now". My problem might be in living too much in "the now". *laugh*

And by the way, I loved your reference to your fourth grade teacher. I always wonder if one year in life of a child is too little time to leave an impact. I hope my kids will remember me, as I absolutely love teaching my fourth graders. :)
If you love it they will remember! The thing I remember most was her ability to pull out of her students that thing that made them special. She was also a natural teacher and it was obvious it was a calling not a job. I've written a children's book for her and I'm hoping someday she'll illustrate if for me. I've always said she didn't teach subjects, she taught children.

Breeze!
Deepanjan Ghosh said…
"You don't have to finish, you just have to start" - if only you could see the number of things I've started but haven't finished...ha ha ha. But I agree with the philosophy in general, and I try and follow it. I need a post like this once in a while to inspire me and give me some more get-up-and-go.
There then! Now get up and go!!
April said…
Very inspirational post, and poem!