In his book Surf Is Where You Find It, champion surfer Gerry Lopez tells the story of the day he and a couple of his surfer friends ended up having afternoon tea at the house of another one of their friends, a well-to-do family on Oahu’s North Shore. The story goes that they didn’t quite know the proper way to behave when, famished after a hard day of surfing, they found before them a plate full of crackers and a very large cheese ball. One of Gerry’s friends, exercising the better part of discretion although his stomach begged otherwise, chose to take a cracker at a time with the smallest sliver of cheese, one at a time. The other friend watched this for a few minutes and, deciding he couldn’t bear it any more, cut the cheese ball in half and wolfed it down with a handful of crackers. A minute and another mouthful later, the remaining half was gone as well.

“Get it while you can, bro.”, he told his friends. It was a defining moment and a mantra they all took with them going forward in their own lives.

I tell this story only because it seems to me too many of us put life on hold in order to take care of things we think are more practical in nature. There are bills to pay, debt to pay off, and obligations we feel we have to meet. But you know what? Those things will always be there; they’re just artificial barriers we place around ourselves so we don’t have to feel guilty about not chasing our dreams or not living life outside the box we have placed ourselves in.

Life is short and precious beyond our ability to fully understand it. Those we love and care for won’t be around forever. What we have in terms of our own health and well-being won’t be there forever, either. The sands are passing through the hour-glass – can you feel it? Live life and all it has to offer to the fullest.

Get it while you can, bro.