In a little bit, later, tomorrow, next weekend, next summer, someday. I say these things a lot. I say them so much that I hear my two-year-old repeating them to me. And you know what? Sometimes the actions these put-offs describe never even happen. They just fall by the wayside and disappear from thought. Sometimes, later turns to never.

I want to stop this put-off routine completely, because I realize this: Life is unidirectional. Every moment that passes is gone. Forever.

You already knew that, I know. The thing is, so did I, long before I understood what it meant. Maybe I heard the words so much that they became cliché and lost their meaning. That’s a shame, because every time I heard them they were no less true than the time before. In fact, they were even more relevant.

Occasionally I look back at college, high school — hell, even grade school — and think about what I could have done differently. I think about the chances I had but didn’t take. Know what I’ve realized? That I still have the chance to do things differently. I’ve realized that through my actions today, I can change the past by changing the future. That someday, ten years from now, I’ll be looking back at this moment, and thinking about what could have been.

So screw that. Do I have opportunities that I’m afraid to take today? Absolutely. Is it possible that things will turn out badly? Yep. Ten years down the road am I gonna wonder what would have been if I’d just had the balls to go for it? NO. Because I am. Not in a little bit, not later, tomorrow, next weekend or next summer. Not someday.

Now.