I’ve had the good fortune recently to be able to reconnect with my younger brother and his wife (who live on the West Coast).  He and I have shared some good conversations, and one of the topics that has come up is future plans and what we think the next five, ten, or even twenty years will bring to our lives.

We’re both at the age where friends in both of our personal circles have unfortunately started to pass away, either from sickness, accidents, or some other tragic event.  In every case, it’s a shock to the system and a wake-up call that we should be living our lives to the fullest extent, each and every day – because we never know when it may suddenly all end.

I’ve always joked that my brother and his wife are like the “Griswolds” from the ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ movies.  Always on the go and packing in the experiences.  You may remember the scene – Clark and his family reach the Grand Canyon on their trek across the country towards “Wally World”, and Clark’s wife says to him “don’t you want to see the Grand Canyon?”, to which Clark comes over, puts his arm around his wife, looks at it for a few seconds, and then says “OK, let’s go,” as he rushes back towards the car to continue their trip.

My brother and his wife travel everywhere together – and I do mean everywhere.  When they take their youngest daughter to college (in Alabama), it’s not uncommon for them to also add in some weird and long detour on the trip (by car) to see a landmark or point of interest along the way – and I’m not talking about a small side-excursion.  For example, on their most recent journey back from his daughter’s college, that “detour” included a 31-hour side-trip to see Mount Rushmore (in South Dakota).  I’m talking Alabama – to South Dakota – and then back home to California.  That’s quite a car ride.

He’s seen quite a bit of this country in his time, from the Space Needle in Seattle to the harbors of Annapolis.

When I asked him about this, his answer was very simple.  “We wanted to see it – so why wait?”

Why wait indeed.

I thought about that sentiment for a while.  We work all our lives.  We save for the future.  We wait to retire.  We talk about all of the dream trips we’ll take – the places we’ll see and the things we’ll do. 

One day.

I’m not saying that planning for the future is a bad thing.  More people should.  I’m simply saying that we don’t know what tomorrow holds for any one of us.  We may face health challenges – we may lose our jobs, or we may find ourselves in some other circumstance or situation that makes that “dream trip” or experience remain elusively out of reach.

What a disappointment to be sitting somewhere later in life, pining away for the time when we “should have done this” or “should have taken the time to go and see that”.

All I’m saying is we should all spend more time living in the moment.  Is there a restaurant you’ve been dying to try, but it’s a two-hour drive away?  Book a reservation and go anyway.  Have you always wanted to ride the “L” in Chicago?  Plan a weekend getaway and go do it.  The sooner the better.

We learn something from everyone we meet and every experience we have.  Our lives are to be celebrated and filled with new experiences and memories.

Don’t wait.  Do it while you can.

Surprisingly, even I can even learn a few valuable life lessons from my younger brother.

Who’d have thought that?