Time to Write

I want to learn French. I want to learn to play violin and visit Tibet and New Zealand. I want to learn to fly a plane and I want to run a marathon. I want to become a karate expert. I also want to become a published novelist.

So many things I want to do but I have responsibilities, a seventeen-year-old, a black and white dog and cat, a house to maintain, and a job that is slightly better than bamboo under my fingernails. I have to make cash to survive and take care of the said responsibilities. So what free time I have, I cherish.

I use most of it to write.

I meet a lot of people who say they want to have some great adventure or learn or do something grand.

If only they had time.

If only they won the lotto. If only they were retired. If only they could take a year off. If only, if only, if only.

There is no tomorrow, there is no special perfect time to do something, there will never be enough free time, or money, and after you retire you are usually too tired to chase a dream. I’ve found the only way to have time, is to make time. Writing is a priority. It comes before fun vacations. It comes before I even think of getting a job with a pension. It comes before putting in new floors or shopping for clothes. It comes before reading for fun. It comes before buying a new car or even looking for a new relationship. If I want to really purse my dreams, I have to sacrifice.

Those who make it to the New York Times Bestseller list, or get to sing on Broadway, or get to visit the Dali Lama, or fly a plane. They give up something else. It’s a trade. Ben Franklin said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”

I look at my list. I still want to go to Tibet and New Zealand, maybe learn some phrases in another language. I still run a lot in the summers (may do a half marathon) and I sneak a great book in quite often. In the end, what I really want, what I dream of, what I’m willing to trade my one and only life for is that important to me. What’s that important to you? What are you willing to sacrifice your time for?

For every comment you leave someone sells their stuff and runs off to Tahiti…