Ten Years from Now?

I often use how I think I may feel in ten years as a guide.  If I have an opportunity to do something new and different, will I regret not having done it?  Will I regret having played it safe and not having taken a risk?  And on my deathbed (assuming there will be such a thing) will I regret not having done the new and exciting and different and having settled for the safe and convenient?

A few years ago I weighed thirty pounds more than I do now.  When I thought of how I would feel twenty years later, I realized that I would be facing many more health problems due to being overweight than I would if I weren't overweight, so I lost the extra pounds.  It took about eighteen months to get where I wanted, but now that I'm there, I stay there.  I would have been very disappointed in the future if I hadn't lost that weight, and now I won't face that disappointment in the years to come.

We had a friend in New England who wants desperately to move to a warmer climate, but who isn't willing to take the chance. . . . yet.  We hope she will someday.  But because she won't take that chance, she'll never know what she's missing by not living out her dream, by playing it safe in her comfortable job in her comfortable home.  I have nothing against comfort, but it sure can hold us back and hold us down when we fear losing it.

I don't want to face disappointment later in life because I was afraid to take a chance and sail into uncharted waters.  As I sail into those waters, I can add much more learning to my life, many more experiences that wouldn't be there otherwise.  And those experiences can help me grow into a new person, one who is able to deal effectively with many more situations than the old one.