I'll Do It Later

We all only have 24 hours in a day. The reality is that time is scarce, and if you're like me, you have many more interests and goals than time to accomplish them. Sometimes I face reality and have to accept the fact that I'm probably not going to do everything that I want to do. Also, another reality is that there are times and seasons in peoples' lives. I think it's important to acknowledge what time and season you are in so that you don't unnecessarily become unhappy if you're not meeting unrealistic goals and expectations that you have for yourself.

For instance, I used to be a little jealous of people when I was at the university when they would take these awesome trips during spring break or even on the weekends. I guess I was a poorer and busier college student than they were because I always remember thinking about how much homework I had to get done over the break, and I didn't have the funds that everyone else had in their bank accounts. It was like other people had money and time growing on trees, and I didn't. Anyway, I didn't feel badly for myself at the time; I was just puzzled as to how people did it. And now I get to travel! Maybe not as much as some people travel, but I get to go enough for me to feel pleased with my situation. And maybe they get to travel, too, but maybe not. Who cares? I am happy that I get to travel now, no matter what other people are doing.

I've been thinking about this because sometimes I think of things that I will do later when I have more time. Realistically, I know I won't really have more time unless I make it a priority to do these things (i.e. I should probably try to fit them into my life right now), but at least they are on the list of desires I have. So here is my partial list of things that I always say I'll do later:

1. Read lots of books - I just never make consistent time for this. It's not like I can pull out a book and read it at work. A lot of times I end up binge reading, like dropping off the face of the earth and reading a book over the course of a day or a few days. Traveling and reading books is also good, and I tend to read more over holidays or on my vacations. I always imagine having babies and reading while I feed them, since my mom always says that she used to do that all the time when she fed us. Speaking of...
2. Have babies - Yeah, I totally don't have any. I figure I can do that later. I know that there is only so much time when females can physically have babies, so maybe I should work on this sometime.
3. Date - This comes way before having babies. I should have listed this before babies. Anyway, I seriously think to myself somewhat frequently: I don't have time to date. I can date in a few months when I will have more time. I don't want to flirt with _____ right now because I don't have time to date him if he asks me out. I will flirt with him later. You can see how I have a problem.
4. Get married - This should come before having babies, too. I always project myself at least two or three years away from getting married. The time never ticks down, though, in my mind. It's always two or three years away.
5. Do more family history - I have a lot of desires to do family history research, and I do a little here and there, but I would like to do it more frequently than I do. Much more frequently. I always hope that someday in two or three years when I get married and then have babies that I will be staying at home raising kids and doing family history and reading while feeding the baby. The problem here is that I've never heard any parent say that they have plenty of time for everything. In fact, most parents seem really busy like they are running here and there and everywhere and not getting done everything that they want to do. They seem kind of crazy sometimes or like a good portion of their life is spent in crisis mode of having to take care of immediate kid problems, like poop and vomit. It seems really relaxing. That was sarcasm.
6. Travel to all the continents and U.S. states and to outer space - I have a confession that I would love to space travel on a vacation. This is not realistic. I understand this. I understand that while I have many years probably still on this earth that my traveling will probably deteriorate if I do #4 and #2 from this list. I also understand that currently space travel probably isn't in my budget. I think it's pretty pricey still, and I'm just getting older. I bet that when space travel is a little more common for average people and vacationers that there will be some kind of medical and fitness exam that people will have to pass to be able to participate in it, sort of like SCUBA diving. I am only getting older, so the likelihood of passing whatever physical is necessary to go to space dwindles with each passing year. This is reality that I have to face, and when I daydream about it as I lie in bed to sleep, I really wish that I could do it someday. I'll do it later.
7. Exercise regularly - I exercise on occasion (I tend to do better during this time of year), but I'm not one of those people who has a strict routine. I always think that I'll start exercising regularly someday when I'm not single and my life has become boring and routine. As a single person, I really like the fact that I can generally do whatever whenever I want. I don't have many routines because single people shouldn't have to have routines, right? RIGHT?!
8. Buy things - Sometimes I just don't get around to buying stuff that I want. It's not that I can't afford them, but it is that I don't take the time to shop for them. Like clothes. I should buy more clothes, especially dresses and skirts because I am really sick of my current selection. And pants and shirts and shoes. It takes a lot of effort for me to find what I want in this department, so I always tell myself that I'll do it later. Also, I want a nice TV stand and outdoor furniture for my back porch and other cute decoration stuffs. I'll find this stuff later. Maybe I wouldn't have money if I did buy this stuff, though...
9. Visit people - I love people. I want to hang out with my family and friends who live away from me, but I don't seem to make the time to travel to see them as frequently as I'd like to see them. I know realistically that I physically am unable to visit everyone as often as I'd like to visit them, but I still want to do it. I have the desires. I am thankful for things like phones and blogs and email and Facebook that allow me to at least keep up with people in a little way, even if I'm not visiting them, especially since I always think I'll visit people later and rarely do.
10. Hobbies that I love - Since I have acquired a love of hiking, I have a long list of hikes that I want to try. I have a long list of plays and operas I want to see, concerts to listen to, foods to try, sporting events to watch or participate in, museums and art pieces to visit, new hobbies and crafts to learn experience, and there are just a thousand activities that I want to do. I will do them all later.
11. Service - There are a lot of ways that people need to be served. There are people to feed and house, hearts to lift in trials, people to educate or help find jobs, good news to share with everyone, places to beautify in the world, etc. I want to do them all. I want to help everyone have every good thing. I will do it later.

So you can see the puzzle. So many dreams and desires, and not enough time and/or means. I will do them all later. Or maybe I should figure out how to do them now.