Complete the following:
“If  you don’t have time to ______ then when will you ____?

A little secret about this blog: I generally do not know what I will write about until Thursday or Friday.  I then type my first rough draft and let it sit for 24 hours or so before I revise and post.  I have not created a long list of titles or topics or thoughts to write about.  But without fail, each week I am inspired by something I read, observe or that happens to me.  That has been one of the benefits of staying focused on posting each week (now at 203 continuous weeks and counting!).  I am always on the lookout for something noteworthy and life-affirming.

This week’s inspiration came from one of our 5 a.m. workout crew at the local gym.  Joe is an affable retiree who is sneaking up on octogenarian status.  As we were working out at nearby stations we were both extolling the benefit of our early morning regimens.  Joe then said, “I just don’t have time to grow old!”

I loved it!  And told him I was immediately appropriating his aphorism.

Another one of the gym “residents,” Bobby, often quips that “Motion is the lotion” when he speaks about the benefit of constantly exercising and stretching our bodies.

Image: Naypong/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

And both of these gentlemen reminded me of a college student I tutored more than 20 years ago.  That young 20-something opened one of our sessions with an insight he had finally gained: “Staying up to date is so much easier than catching up!”

The wisdom from each of these men is profoundly simple—and so often ignored.

That got me to thinking about completing this question:

“If  you don’t have time to ______ then when will you ____?

If, for instance, we “let our body go” it will become more difficult to get back into the healthy routine of diet and exercise than if we had remained on task.  If you don’t have time to go to the gym, eat healthy, get enough sleep or whatever else you need to do then when will you have the time to be sick and retreat to our bed or the sofa to recover? If you don’t have time to work out now, then when will you be able to when your body is weak and stiff?

Like the student who wants to do extra credit to bring up a grade point average. If you don’t have time to do the required work, then when will you have time to do extra work?

If you don’t have time to tend to and nurture a relationship, then when will you have time to mend that relationship?

If you don’t have time to plan for your financial future when you have the years to build the wealth, then when will you be able to do it once you need that money?

If you don’t have time to stop and put gas in the car, are you telling me you will have the time to wait on a tow truck?  How about if you don’t have time to put gas in your energy tank?  Then when will you have time to recharge your batteries?

What we create now, we reap later.

Video recommendation for the week:

Are you growing old or growing up?

Thanks, Joe, for the reminder.  We will all age—but we don’t have to grow old.  I know I don’t have time for that either.

Make it a wonderful week—H.T.R.B. as needed.

Check out my website (http://www.stevepiscitelli.com/programs.html) for programming information as well as details about upcoming webinars  (http://www.stevepiscitelli.com/webinars).

Information on my newest book, Choices for College Success (3rd ed.), can be found at Pearson Education.

(c) 2014. Steve Piscitelli. All rights reserved.