Day #81 in A Year of Positivity

“Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances. Sometimes it’s now or never.”
– Alan Bennett

Buongiorno a tutti (“Good morning, everyone” in Italian), and welcome to Day #81 in A Year of Positivity! I have another Bennett quote for you. However, this one comes from a different fellow with the same last name, Alan Bennett, and here’s how the quote goes: “Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances. Sometimes it’s now or never.”

Oooh! This quote made me shudder, and it chilled me to my bones! This can be taken in one of two ways. The first way is about once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. I’ll give you a perfect example of this. Back in early April 2012 I was offered a supervisor job in Bethlehem that made nearly twice the amount of money that I earn right now, and it had some incredible health benefits as well!. However, at that time, I had zero self-esteem and no confidence in my ability as someone who could be a supervisor. I didn’t see the value in myself, my self-worth, and I was very doubtful that I had the ability to last long in the career world as a supervisor.

Instead of choosing to embrace the challenge and building up on my skills, I passed up on that supervisor opportunity and ended up getting a job at the local country club for the worst paycheck as an “a la carte” assistant server who could barely get in more than 20 hours of work a week. However, at the end of the year in December, my then 7-year-old hearing aids actually began malfunctioning! My employer worked with me on serving the customers to the best of my ability, but it got to a point where I needed to resign from my position because I was getting dizzy spells from the lack of equilibrium due to my hearing aids malfunctioning, and I couldn’t be dizzy while carrying heavy trays of food and drinks while trying to serve other customers.

So, I left the workforce for a few months, until I could get my new hearing aids in May 2013. If I would’ve accepted the supervisory job offer at the previous company in April 2012, I may not have had to leave the workforce, and I wouldn’t have struggled so much through my finances! Okay, so this isn’t exactly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the general sense, but it’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with that company! I’m not the type of person who takes very many risks, though, and when you combine that with a low self-esteem and an extremely low rate of self-worth, it makes sense why I’d prefer to stick to what I know instead of venturing into the scary unknown.

I’m smart enough to know now, that there are other opportunities waiting for me on the other side of the right doors. I shudder at the person I used to be in 2012 and don’t recognize her anymore. I’ve been on an incredible journey these past few years of self-evaluation and I’ve obtained so many more useful skills along the way. As a worker, I’ve tripled my value and skills (including some of supervisory level), and I’m extremely confident in the things I do. A few people have tried stopping me along the way, but it’s been a long, arduous journey, and I’ll never let anyone else take this empowering feeling away from me again. I’ve come way too far to let anyone get in the way of this again!

Another way today’s quote can be taken is taking the time we have left on this earth into consideration in the decisions we make for the near or far future. We will never know when our last day on this beautiful blue and green earth will be. It could be today in a car wreck, it could be tomorrow from a heart attack or a stroke. It could even be a week or a month from today because of complications stemming from a pre-existing health condition. Sometimes, it’s not even you, but someone you love whose number comes up so unexpectedly.

Are we living with any regrets over the poor decisions we’ve made or the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities we’ve passed over? Are we leaving some opened business unfinished? Are we refusing to try to work on a broken or fractured relationship that needs healing, help, and support in order for it to be raised up to healthy standards?

As Alan Bennett says, sometimes it really is now or never. Although, if you’re in a quandary about what to do in certain situation you may be facing, a helpful tool is to consider the dire consequences and quality results of the decisions made. Will you later on come to regret the decision that you make now, to do or NOT do certain things?

Time cannot be bought, but we can invest in it. Time is beautiful, and valuable, and we should make the most of it. Use it to invest in yourself. Invest in your loved ones. And remember, appreciate all the time in the world that we’re given to do what matters, and make the most of it, because once it’s gone, we can never get it back.