Can you really 'spring forward'?

Here we are, in the month of March, the weekend after everyone in the United States - minus Arizona - set their clocks forward an hour, 'springing forward'. And it got me thinking: what would life be like if we - like our clocks each spring - could actually SPRING forward (or FALL back, as the case may be)? I started thinking of things I wish I could change from my past, and caught myself wondering what things in my future are affected by what I'm doing RIGHT NOW that might cause me to wish I could 'FALL back' and fix them, too?

And that's just it, isn't it? They (whoever 'they' are) say hindsight is 20/20 (and boy oh boy what a year 2020 was! So many things were put on hold that year...were they ever moved forward?), but in a way isn't foresight as well? As we get older - and hopefully wiser - can't we already predict what will happen 2 years from now if we don't do or change something in the here and now? Case in point: if I started to write a novel TODAY, with the plan to write for 3 hours every day, in 2 years I would have a novel (or at the very least a large story that could be edited into a novel). But if I 'planned' for 3 hours a day, but only met that goal occasionally, then at the end of those 2 years I would have either a half-written (or less) story not ready to be a book, or I would have given up on the endeavor completely.

At this time in my life I have come to realize that I am the one that has to do the daily steps to make something happen down the line. I can't blame lack of time, or money, or resources...it's all on me. We each have 24 hours in our day, and it's all in how we use them. When we're young we think we have so much TIME that we have no problem procrastinating one task or goal - we'll do it tomorrow or next month. No hurry. But now, on the other side of 50, I'm struck with how much time I've wasted in the past and find myself contemplating what I COULD have accomplished if I hadn't procrastinated...or if I hadn't been afraid of failing...or if I had listened to that voice inside me - the Holy Spirit - and stepped out in faith...how different would my life be right now?

Everyone has dreams/goals for their lives; but does everyone do everything in their power to make those dreams a reality? I don't think so. We all could do more to reach goals we have for ourselves - whether it's finally going through the mess in garage, losing those last 15 pounds, or learning a new hobby we've always wanted to try...but do we actually make decisions in our daily lives to make those goals become a reality?

My hope for this post is that those who read it will contemplate what I'm saying and look at their own lives and decisions made: are you where you want to be, or imagined you'd be from 5 years ago? Have you met a goal, crossed something off your bucket-list, or followed through with something to make it a helpful daily habit? Or are you looking back at the last 3 years of life since The 19 shut down the world for a time and wondering if you've accomplished anything at all?

I'll end this, dear readers, by simply saying: Spring Forward to your future with open eyes, doing all you can to make your goals a reality on a daily basis. As a wise woman I follow on Instagram says "Don't Quite Today"; she tells herself this when she is tempted to skip or ignore something that helps her move towards her goal - You can quit tomorrow, but you can't quite today! And guess what? Tomorrow never comes, because we're always living in today.

Go out there and slay the day, my peeps!