On a recent trip to Target (seriously, I spend WAY too much time there), I stopped by the cards section and noticed a card about living the life you deserve. I was all offended. Yeah, the idea of it all was nice but this card was in the retirement section.

retirement ecard

It made me think about the way things usually go. People work all of their lives toward that pie in the sky called retirement. That’s supposed to be when you are really able to live and enjoy life. It seems to me that doesn’t work. If we wait until retirement to enjoy life, we’ve already missed so much. For my generation, retirement seems SO far away. We are going to need millions to be able to live comfortably. Some people fully expect to work until they are 70 years old.

Yes, at 70 years old is when you can begin to enjoy and life the life of your dreams. For most people, 70 years old finds them tired and many have health issues. How much energy do you really have at that point to travel, pursue your passions and “enjoy life”? Yes, that card had ALL of this racing through my head. It seemed to suggest a “dream now, live later” life. I am fully on board with a “dream NOW and do it NOW” way of life. (tweet this) I have all of these ideas and desires for my life NOW. I can’t get to every single thing right now but I’m determined to do as much as I can.

By the time I’m 70 I want to be still enjoying my life but I really want to be at a point where I’m not chasing myself and trying to do things that I’ve wanted to do my whole life. I’d rather that time be spent still pursuing and dreaming but also doing a great deal of reminiscing about all of the dreams I’d made a reality. That’s my goal. What’s something that you’ve put off to do later that you could do right now?

10 Comments on Dream Now, Live Later?

  1. I agree that this is all wrong. I think that you should live your life and enjoys things now. Like you said you don’t know what life is going to be like at 60, 70, or even 80. We are never promised tomorrow and should always LIVE for today. 😉

  2. You are so right on this… I’ve really tried embracing life these past few years. Working hard / playing hard. But always setting goals along the way to make sure my future is solid. Thank you for this reminder!

  3. Oh man, this talks to me so loud and clear…I feel the same way. The time to live is right NOW. Why wait? Retirement? What’s that? I’ve witnessed too many people that are close to me work SO hard, only to have the rug pulled out from under them, when they *should* be retiring right now. It’s definitely a different world we live than it was decades ago. Great post!

  4. I completely agree with your message. My father in law passed away not too long ago and it hurt me so much to realize that he was waiting for retirement to enjoy life. That was one of the big turning points in my life. The time to enjoy, experience and live is now.

  5. This was driven home for me lately when my dad was diagnosed with leukemia last year. He’s 64, and he was SO ANGRY that this disease had stolen his golden years. He expressed how he had worked so hard all his life, and now he just wanted to draw, and fish, and play his guitar—and he might not get to do any of it.

  6. I loved reading your post Camesha,
    I have been dreaming of a family trip to Bali for the past 2.5 years, looks like I’m gonna be scanning through travel sites tonight!
    Thank you for the inspiration <3

  8. I totally get it – I definitely want to love my life NOW as well as when I’m 70. I’m traveling a lot this year. Well not a LOT a lot but a lot more than I ever have. Using my youth!

  9. YES! For years I put off a trip to San Francisco saying to myself that it was too expensive, to much, not enough time. I finally said to myself, it will never be the perfect time. So we are headed there this summer! And already planning next year’s trip!

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