Why Do We Wait?

So why do we wait? Many of us wait to go on the big trip, get that pair of boots, start back to church, tell someone we are sorry, or make that special recipe. Take my advice on this one, don't wait. My life has changed so much in the past two years and lately I find it changing by the week, even the day. Life is not going to wait on you. It is not going to stand still until  you get it together, find the right words or have enough money. Life is so wonderfully strange with so many lessons and not enough time. Two years ago, I chose family over career because I realized time wouldn't wait until I had reached maximum retirement. My parents were aging, they needed help, and their life cycle was not predestined to fit comfortably into my life's plan. So, I put my money where my mouth was and took the pay cut for life and put my parents first. I know that there are not do overs in some facets of life and I didn't want to have regrets about this choice. So in the past two years I've found myself sitting on the front porch with my parents, going for truck rides with my Dad, discussing recipes with my Mom and sorting through a ton of memories in my childhood home. I find it sad that others don't take advantage of spending time with their parents in their last remaining years. What are they waiting for or what is more important? So why do we wait? Do we really think that we are in control? That it will all happen as we planned it? I can tell you that it doesn't. You wake up one morning and everything has suddenly changed. Your world is upside down. Your parents are old. Your child has grown up. Your hair is getting gray, your joints ache and you really wish you had taken better care of yourself. You realize you should have taken that surfing lesson in your twenties, that hiking trip, too. So why did you wait? What was more important at the time? So you turn a page and your Mom is in a nursing home, your brother is really sick, and your Dad has dementia and you think maybe I'd better not wait any longer for anything. Then you hear about a car wreck and you think maybe it is time to stop waiting for the right time because there is no right time for some things, only this time. You turn another page and your discussing bucket lists, funeral plans and where did everyone go? So why do we wait?