Time to be Daring

As I write this, I have the perfect view of a squirrel on my patio.  He (she?) is going through the birdseed that has fallen from the deck above.  He’s pretty persistent.  I thought I gave him a little squirrel coronary about a half hour ago when I didn’t see him before letting the dogs out.  Yet, here he is again.

It’s funny, because all summer I haven’t seen a single squirrel anywhere near our bird feeders on the deck or near the house at all.  Yet now, as the days get shorter and the temperatures drop, here he is.  Daringly returning time and again to a place that surely he knows could produce a dog at any moment and without warning.  I know what he’s doing, of course.  Winter is on its way and he is trying to gather enough food to make it through. 

The funny thing is; if he had been coming here all summer, he would have a great plenty to get him through the winter.  Instead, he has done something I thought only us humans did.

 

Why is it that most of us wait until the last minute to be daring?  Like this squirrel, a large percentage of the human population waits until the last possible moment to risk it all for a wealth of, in this case, food to get them through the winter.

Why did I wait until I was in my mid-forties to start a cleaning business?  What if I had done it in my twenties or even in my thirties?  How much more successful would I be today? 

Of course it doesn’t do any good to wonder what could have been.  But why not start being daring now?  It’s not too late.   At this moment each and every one of us could start being daring and bold. 

I am going to go forward from this moment and try things, business-wise, that I have not tried before.  I will be brave and bold and daring, just like that squirrel.  Who’s with me?

12 responses to “Time to be Daring

  1. I’m with you Mike! I just started writing a book, and I will be 62 in January.

  2. how true, i also waited to my 40’s before becoming a nurse and have often wondered how my life would have been different if I had attended school much younger, but even now I still find myself putting off things until the last minute or at least another day. Your blog gave me food for thought. Thanks. Please give Marti and Grace my hellos.

  3. I lately came across your blog and have been reading along. I imagine I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say, except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice site. I will keep visiting your site very frequently.

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  5. Hey Perry
    nice blog I to started my company 20 years ago in my early 40s I am doing well but I am not stopping now although I am retirement age I am not ready to quit so I will store up my own nuts

    Kathy Best Klean Cleaning Service Evansville ,Indiana

    • Kathy,
      What an amzingly kind thing to say to me. Calling me Perry, that is. : ) Perhaps it’s not such a bad thing to wait. Perhaps we (people in thier 40’s, 50’s, etc.) bring more to the table than is recognized. You rock and thank you so much for the comments.

  6. Great blog, Mike. I started this business in my mid 50’s after the bank I was with downsized my dept. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Now that I’m on a fast downhill slide to 60, I keep thinking, “Why didn’t I do this sooner? Why did I wait until now?” I don’t know the answer to that, but I think we are all at the place where we are supposed to be at any given moment in time. And now when I start getting panic attacks wondering “what the heck are you doing? Do you know what you’re doing?” I think, “Well, you got this far you can go another step further!” Scary sometimes, though.

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