5-4-3-2-1 Go!

I’m trying to get myself prepared for the new year. For me this means a lot of cleaning, searching Pinterest for new recipes, decluttering, re organizing, and praying. Okay, it also involves eating a lot of sweets between now and midnight on December 31st.

I’m currently reading The Five Second Rule by Mel Robbins. I’m not even halfway through and I’m sold. I’ve used it to get up off the couch and keep cleaning when my mind is screaming at me to just binge watch Grey’s for the 100th time. Today I used it to get out of bed. My oldest is on Christmas break and so I’ve been laying in bed until the kiddos whine enough to get me up. Then I basically operate in survival mode until my husband gets home. I’m not proud of this. I’ve been really off my game these last few months and I’ve allowed it since we’re living in the middle of a pandemic in a broken world. But no more. Last night before bed I read this little paragraph in the book:

There is no right time. There is only right now. You get one life. This is it. And it’s not going to begin again. It’s up to you to push yourself to make the most of it and the time to do it is right now.

– Mel Robbins, The Five Second Rule

Whoa! This ties into my mantra – This is not your practice life. You are living your book. There is no sequel, there is no redo, don’t live in a state of regret. 5-4-3-2-1 Go! Get moving. Now. Not later. Not someday. Stop putting it off.

This year has come with a lot of loss for many people. People who had hopes and dreams for their future are having to rewrite their story with a big character missing. People are having to put together pieces that just don’t seem to fit right. It’s a rough year. It’s put some limitations on lives. Let go of it all. 5-4-3-2-1 Go!

What are you waiting for? What are you putting off? Hate your job? Stuck in a bad marriage? Want to start a business? Write a book? Ask for someone’s number? My husband and I talk about how we wish we could have fallen in love in high school. How we wish we could have had the extra years together (as long as it didn’t change the kids we’d eventually have) and how we wish we just had more time together. In our case it wasn’t a missed opportunity – we weren’t in love in high school and just not saying something. That wasn’t our story. However, it might be yours. Have you been dragging your feet on something for days, weeks, months, or even years? Stop. This is not your practice life. 5-4-3-2-1 Go!

As 2020 comes to an end and we enter a new year, a new set of opportunities, a new round of what ifs – let’s stop over thinking. Let’s stop hesitating and procrastinating and move. Want to be a runner? Go for a run, even if you can only make it to the corner. Want to be a writer? Pick up a pen, take a class, join a club. Want to meet new people? Join a book club, go to Church, say hello! Don’t wait. Don’t let your mind stop you from going for it. Don’t think, just 5-4-3-2-1 Go!