The Myth and Reality of Waiting

Over the years of fighting my own excuse-addiction and working with people heavily addicted to their own, I often heard the ‘need to wait’ as a common reason to not move forward with acting on some “very important” goal. Hearing it always tells me it’s really a way of saying, “I’m not sure.” Of course, this immediately prompts the questions, “When will you be sure?” and “What will it take for you to be certain?” Various answers follow which typically cite kids, access to money, time, energy, focus, blah, blah and so on. So much energy is put into that ‘need to wait’, that we don’t realize what a myth we’re feeding into.

Here’s the reality: Waiting won’t buy you courage. It won’t erase your fear and uncertainty about doing something big that may actually move you forward. It won’t give you more time, energy, focus or money. It will just give you a reason to waste more time. As if you have time stocked up in a magical time bank somewhere that’s invulnerable to the unknown and inevitable. How many friends, family members or public figures you admired passed away this past year? Do you think they still had dreams? Sure they did. Did you think they still had time to do all the big things they wanted? You probably thought so. But the truth is, none of us has that time bank secured. Waiting is a myth.

Action is the only real truth of what our lives are right now. Not words. My words only impress me when they back up my actions. The rest is empty. I’ve committed to abandon empty words and act in the name of living my life more fully. Every day, I break apart that impotent myth of ‘waiting’. Now is what I’ve got. I’m the star of my show. And… ACTION!

What about you?  Are you feeding into the Myth? What do you need to take action now?