why we don't do what we want to do

some mornings - it used to be all mornings - i start my day by sitting on my sofa with my breakfast, a couple of good books, my diary, maybe a magazine and read or just let my thoughts wander. a little bit of quiet time, before the hustle and bustle starts. i hadn't done this in a long time. and i missed it. so there i sat down on my sofa this morning.

and out of the blue i started thinking: why is it that so often we don't do what we want to do? i think way up in the top ten of excuses are number one - i had no time - and number two - i had no choice. oh, blah-blah.

don't get me wrong here - i'm talking about the things we personally want to do, the things we know we feel deeply about, things that are really close to our heart, things we always wanted to do but never had the courage to. i'm explicitely not talking about the things other people think we should be doing, nor about the things we think we want to do, but really, we don't. we are grown-ups and can figure out which is which, right? no-one should be patronising us when it comes to our priorities.

so, about number one. if we are honest, there are really very few times in life when there really, really is no time to do the things we really care about. maybe we have to get up earlier or have to cancel other things, but in 99% of the cases, there is time.

as to number two, that's bollocks. most of us are not held captive, are not set under drugs or have otherwise been taken our freedom to act. we have far more choice in life than we like to face.

being honest about this, there are probably two very valid reasons for why we are not doing what we want to do: we either are scared of the thing we want to do, or we are scared we might fail trying. and these reasons are not to be dismissed lightly. my father often said: only the stupid have no fears. it's a sign of intelligence to be scared. and he is spot-on. it's ok to be scared. surely, there are loads of risks we sometimes have to take. but no-one's going to be helped if we chicken out all of the time.

so maybe today is the day to stop and give some thought to the things we want to do. and just start doing them.

(dear readers, remember that when i sound so preachy, i'm preaching to myself because i just had some kind of epiphany. you just happen to have the doutbful job of listening to my rant. hope you'll forgive me.)

p.s.: as to number two (no time), i have to make a big exception. people with small children. there, "no time" has a totally different quality. chapeau to all of you who juggle family life, you are amazing!