Twenty years feels so far away, doesn’t it? You can’t think of where you’ll be 10 years from now, much less twice that amount of time. This leads to you feeling like you can’t do anything to prepare for your life that far in advance. You think nothing is set in stone and you’ll cross that bridge when you get there.
The problem is, 20 years can creep up on you unexpectedly. Before you know it, you’re in your fifties and wishing you could turn back time. The feeling is akin to wanting to wake up from a nightmare, except you cannot undo your age and your bad decisions.
Your Life Now Is the Best It’s Going to Be
If you’re shaking your head at this thought, you probably think it will get better once you’ve saved up more money and gotten that coveted promotion. But when you do reach those achievements, you’ll only want to move on to the next one. This right here, this moment, is the best life you’ll ever have because you’re young and you feel alive. When you’re in your senior years and needing a walk in bathtub, that’s when you look back in your prime and realize you should have made decisions that are good for your body and for your life in general.
What Can a Young, Inexperienced Person Do?
One of the reasons you don’t think of your future is because you think you haven’t gained enough experience to make the best decisions. Big purchases to you right now are in the form of expensive clothes and accessories, with your credit card taking the full blow. Home ownership in Utah is a dream, but you think it’s for your older and wiser self, who is ready to settle down. You may be considering a car purchase, but instead of its functionalities, you’re focusing on its popularity and how people will perceive you when you drive it. Nevermind that it will take you seven years or longer to pay it in full, and after that time, it’s virtually worthless. You could be responsible and get a car you can afford comfortably, but your youth calls to the shiny new thing and your bank account suffers.
Don’t Know What to Do, Don’t Want to be Told
When you’re earning your own money and renting your own place, you call yourself independent. However, this gives you the idea that everyone should just let you live your life the way you want to. While that independence is good for you to learn from, using it as an overused excuse will only lead to you not growing up along with your peers. While everyone is settling down, you’re left living the good, fun, and carefree life. You don’t realize until years later that you have given your liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart so much work to do and when they malfunction, that’s when you think of all the nights you spent binge drinking, eating, and smoking.
Your actions today impact your life in the future. Think of how you want your life to turn out before you reach for that credit card, beer, or junk food.
