Tomorrow is my twenty-eighth birthday. The last time I spent a birthday at home in the UK, I turned 22. The time in between is a blur of adventures – 20 countries, four continents, a bungee jump, scuba dive, four volcano summits, beach huts, temples, great white sharks, elephants and more. As I look back, I can focus really on only one thing – time flies. The days, weeks, months and even years pass us by faster than we know, milestones come then fade to memories without our acknowledging their significance.
Live life in the moment and appreciate the small things. Say yes to the opportunities and don’t ever let fear stop you from doing something you wish to do. Regrets are made of opportunities we have missed not things we attempted but did not enjoy.
Go out and do the thing you always wished you could try.
Don’t be held back by financial burdens or the opinions of others. Live the life you dreamed of and live it the best way you can possibly imagine doing so. Don’t spend the next year making plans, spend it fulfilling them. You can always create new dreams and goals to fill the void left by those already attained.
Don’t envy the achievements of others on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, create your own magical reality to share with the world. Don’t wonder ‘what if I had those same opportunities’, go and find them, and make them your own. Live a life free of dissatisfaction, fulfilled with achievement and rife with love and laughter.
Chances are made to be seized.
Make time for friends and family for you do not know when those moments will no longer be possible. Pick up the phone, catch the train, book the flight – remove the distance between yourself and others. Don’t hold grudges, let them go; feel not envy or distrust. Be open and seek out the best in all those you meet. You can never have enough friends, seek to expand your circle at every chance. Be kind, generous, and open, always.
Live a life that you would write in a storybook or depict through the lyrics of a song. Don’t imagine it, create it, for time will pass you by faster than you know.
Featured image via Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels
