Life is short, don't waste it.

 　　Chatting with an old classmate, I learned that another friend's writing fees were higher than his salary. My old classmate said enviously, "When I retire, I'll definitely write again and pick up my literary hobby that I abandoned decades ago." Because of his excellent writing skills, my old classmate was assigned to an administrative unit, where the tedious and monotonous official document writing made him miserable. But he persisted for decades to make a living, always dreaming of one day having free time to write what he loved.

　　I said, "You can write now, why wait until retirement?" He shook his head and replied, "Forget it, I'll wait until retirement. I'll have plenty of time then."

　　A while ago, my cousin, whom I hadn't seen in a long time, returned from abroad for his mother's funeral. At the funeral, the grown man wailed, "Mom, I always told you that once I made something of myself, I would come back to be with you. Why didn't you give me that chance? Why didn't you wait for me? I really regret it. If only you had come back sooner!" My cousin came from a single-parent family. After his aunt's divorce, her health wasn't good, but she worked day and night to support his education. Later, my cousin fulfilled his wish to study abroad, but the opportunities overseas weren't good. He struggled for over ten years, but his career didn't take off, and he never returned home, always wanting to return in glory after achieving success. Tragically, he was now separated from his mother by death.

　　The word "wait" has become our mantra: waiting for a certain day, waiting until we're not busy, waiting for next time, waiting until we have time, waiting until we have the means, waiting until we have the money. We wait and wait, until the opportunity is gone, until our youth is gone, until our health is gone, until the opportunity is gone. We always use various excuses to turn things we could do right now into unattainable dreams and empty talk. Many things in life are unpredictable; what we can grasp is the present.

　　Life is short, so don't waste it. Start acting now; it's never too late.