I got up extra late this morning. Like 6:30, or maybe even 6:45. It felt like I was on vacation.

I am trying to learn how to sleep in since my baby graduated from high school last spring and now, for the first time in a thousand years, I can do this. But old habits are hard to break. And I don’t know if it’s just me, but for some reason I’m laying there awake and telling myself that I should go back to sleep because this option is now available to me and why in the world am I not taking the universe up on its offer?

But I was only able to force myself to stay still and under the covers for about fifteen minutes. Fifteen measly minutes. But hey, even that is progress, right?

So with my morning coffee by my side, I sat down to write a post about success. About how we as a society define it, and why we as individuals have to take back our power to define it on our own terms. Which fit right in with my morning. Because even fifteen minutes can be counted as a tiny success, don’t you think? So I sat down to write about defining success, what I’ve learned about that, and what I’m still learning.

But that’s not the post you’re reading.

Not because I didn’t want to write it. I did. Obviously. I had my research notes in front of me, plenty of time ahead of me, and a full pot of dark roast freshly brewed waiting for me. But I didn’t write it. Instead, I wrote this post.

Because sometimes you need to say what’s on your heart, instead of what’s in your head.

And what’s in my heart is that this life is so precious and so short. That time doesn’t wait and years really do fly fast. That what I want to say to my children and to my loved ones and maybe even mostly to myself is this:

Don’t waste another moment of this one amazing life.

Not. One. More. Moment.

So, as you sometimes do, I had to change my plan and go with my heart.

Had to say what I really want to say to the young adults I know, and to the older, wiser ones.

To all you hopeful souls, and to all you who have become filled with regrets that you feel like you can’t ever outrun.

To every person with a dream in their heart that they just want to imagine might really become real, and to the one who can’t even imagine that their dream will ever come to be. Because this is where grace is found. This is where joy comes from – from living the life you’re meant to live.

When you choose to bravely be who you are, you open the door to joy.

To the young ones – don’t wait. Life blazes by faster than you think, faster than you can imagine just now. Do you have a dream in your heart? A passion for music or animation or medicine or law? Pursue it. With everything your youthful energy can bring to the table. Don’t wait, and please dear one, don’t settle. Your future is calling, hoping you’ll answer.

To the older ones – don’t regret. Life blazed by faster than you thought it would, and yes, you traded one dream for another. But just imagine – that dream you thought you’d lost hasn’t quite lost its spark. That passion for poetry or architecture or medicine or law? Pursue it. With everything your wiser self can bring to the table. Don’t wait, and please dear one, don’t settle. Your dream is calling, hoping you’ll answer.

Oh, and to the middle ones? The ones who brave every day to do the brave thing and stay where they are because they have families to raise and parents to care for and people who count on them to be there – to you I say this: you are amazing. Your dedication is amazing. Your bravery is amazing. And I applaud all of it. But please, please – do not abandon your dream. Ever. Even if it seems completely impossible right now, keep it alive in your heart and in your soul and in your life by taking just one step – just one – towards it. Even if it seems impossible.

Maybe especially if it seems impossible.

Life blazes by fast, faster than we think or can even imagine.

Let’s not waste one more moment.

~xo,
LuAnne