I was watching a great video today about an Engineer who on retiring decided to take up art. He had been an Engineer all his life, but he knew deep down that he wanted to be an artist. The video showed some of his work, and even though he had never had a single lesson the works he produced were amazing.

As I watched it at first I was impressed with what he was doing and then I was saddened.

He clearly had amazing talent and was passionate about art. But why wait until retirement before you start to do what you really love.

I mention this because about 6 years ago I worked with someone who on the day of his retirement had a heart attack.

We must not wait to follow our passion, our lives are short, and can be a lot shorter than we think.

It might not seem the right time to go for it, but you never know if this is all the time that you will have.

I know for myself that my passion is speaking, writing and coaching on leadership, and I know I came to it late. Partly because I wasn’t ready, I still needed to learn a few things, probably still do. But I decided that if I waited much longer I might never have the chance.

Today is a gift and we should look to spend it doing what gives us most pleasure.