Shortly after the arrival of our first daughter (who, incidentally, turned 25 last week!), I spent a weekend in Chicago visiting my parents. My father had been contemplating selling his pharmacy and retiring, so that he and my mother could travel to St. Louis more often. While in the kitchen, perusing the photograph-laden refrigerator door, my eyes settled on a new addition; there, held up with a magnet in a place of eye-catching prominence, my dad had posted a quote: “Retirement is when you stop making a living, and start making a life.”

This sentiment has stayed with me, through so many years, often playing in my head. While it is true that many individuals do indeed seem to “start over” with a new lifestyle upon retirement, infused with energy and intent and many more hours in the day to “recreate”, it seems to me a shame to wait until potentially the age of 65 before truly starting to live.

Many of my clients come to me with fabulous goals, each of which is completely attainable, only to express frustration when they cannot get to the gym or stay on track with their meal plan, because schedules/work/appointments get in the way. Yes, some of these situations are unavoidable, and sometimes the gym just has to take a back seat to more pressing events. However, it is important to remember that life begins when we do. All of the aspects of our world, the good and the inconvenient, are part of our life; and we do not always possess the luxury of picking and choosing when the car breaks down, when the boss schedules a mandatory meeting, or when the cable repair man claims he’ll be at the house! If we are dedicated to living our lives the way WE choose, we must start by setting the priorities early on, and doing our best to work other things around them.

If you are reading this, you have been blessed with the good fortune of yet one more day. How are you going to spend it? I encourage you not to wait until every piece of your puzzle is in place. How many of us have said, “I’ll get to it when the kids move out?” Perhaps your line of choice has been, “I’ll have plenty of time once I cut back on my work load” or “The gym is my top priority as soon as I retire.” You CAN start making a life TODAY. Life begins when you do…..so don’t delay! There is a lot waiting for you out there! Get started!