IF NOT NOW – WHEN
If not now
When we finally graduate
When we get married and have children
When the children leave for college
When we’ve saved enough money and retire
How much of life
Have we procrastinated away
How much pleasure have we postponed
How much fulfillment have we failed to grasp
How much love have we withheld or rejected
If not now
When will we embrace nature
hugging trees and showering under waterfalls
When will we dance in the rain
shivering with delight at our own daring
When will we get dirt under our fingernails
gardening or sensually sculpting in clay
When will we savor the food we crave
rather than ceding to gluttony or abstinence
If not now
When will we read for the sheer pleasure
of exploring other lives, divergent realities
When we explore the exotic places
we’ve only read about in books
When will we luxuriate in the bubble baths
of our forgotten childhood
When will we sleep under the summer sun
warming the recesses of our bodies
If not now
When will we appreciate
the sublime in the ordinary
and relish the present moment
instead of regretting the past or planning the future
When will we grant ourselves the grace
of knowing we have done enough
We are enough
It is time to simply be
To be
Content within ourselves
To spend more time with the people we love
doing the things that bring us alive
The things that feed our deepest yearnings
If not you – who
If not now – when
LOREN JUDAKEN
