If Not Now, When?

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now -- when?"

-- Hillel


Recently my father-in-law passed away. Grief has hit me in unexpected ways. I think about how short the human lifespan really is.

My father-in-law lived nearly 91 years, which is but a blink in time. On the other hand, 91 years is along life span for human beings. A person can accomplish a great deal in 91 years. I suppose that’s why the above three questions have been on my mind.

Social and family issues aside (those would take a whole other blog ...), I’ve been thinking what I want to accomplish as a writer. Which brings me to three friends, all writers. I named us the Goal Girls because when we get together, setting and reviewing goals are our main purpose. We meet roughly every other month to review our goals and when necessary, tweak them. Most important, we hold each other to those goals. So they’d better be concrete, reachable, and measurable. We also drink coffee, eat lunch, laugh, cry, gossip and occasionally meet for something non-goal related, like have our Tarot cards read.

A few weeks ago we met to review our one and five-year professional goals. Putting this plan together was hard! But the Goal Girls know that in order for the Universe to provide, we must set concrete goals for ourselves. I like to set hard to reach (but not impossible) goals for myself. Looking at the three questions above) if I don’t push myself to excel, who will?

Helping my writer friends, in particular the Goal Girls, accomplish their goals and dreams is what I will do to answer the second question.

The third question, if not now, when? Applies to all of us. It is so easy to put off chores or hard work with excuses. How many of us have never said, “I’ll do it later?” I catch myself saying that more than I care to admit.

I guess what I’m saying is, despite the short time we are here (if you believe in reincarnation, and sometimes I do, I’m talking THIS life), we can accomplish a great deal, especially we have a concrete (though fluid and changeable) plan in place.

Happy goal-setting!
Wishing you your wildest dreams....