I work at a “little old lady” hair salon. My clients, who I lovingly call my “gals,” arrive week after week, hobbling with walkers and canes, for their appointments of washing, blow drying, or setting their hair in rollers. The more I listen to my gals, their stories, their troubles, their favorite memories, I realized one detail: They were not always little old ladies. They were young, vivacious, fascinating individuals with so much to offer the world. They have stories of traveling, or living in other countries. Some had high paying jobs and drove expensive sports cars. Some used to be so fashionable that it pains us to see them in mismatched attire because they don’t have the ability to match their clothes anymore. Many of them can no longer drive, and depend on family for rides. Lots of them have debilitating ailments making their daily tasks challenging and painful. Many have lost their independence, their confidence, and their loved ones. So many of them have lost children, yet continue to carry on. Many more have lost husbands, and have been left to face the world without the love of their lives.

These women truly amaze me.In many ways, these ladies are the lucky ones. They’ve gotten to live into their 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. I had one gal pass away just shy of her 100th birthday. As I sit here typing this, I have so much life ahead of me to look forward to, and one day I realized a very sobering fact: I am going to be little old lady one day. That is, if I am lucky enough to become elderly. Some of us aren’t that lucky.

I have been out of high school for only 14 years, and I need two hands to count how many of my former classmates have passed away. I’m sure these people had plans. I’m sure there were vacations they were dreaming of taking, jobs they were considering applying for, conversations they wanted to have with loved ones. I think of them as I write this, and I can’t believe these people never got the chance to live a full life.

But if you’re reading this: You’re alive. So go live.

Whether it’s because we could die tomorrow, or we could live to be 100 and push off our plans because we think we have all the time in the world, we all need to do a little more living. Don’t waste your life being with someone who doesn’t make you feel important, appreciated, and loved from your head to your toes. Don’t go along with plans that don’t excite you just to make others happy. Don’t stay at a job that you tolerate because you’re afraid to go for that new position. Don’t squirrel away all your money and never spend a dime on your own enjoyment. Go on vacation. Try a new restaurant. Go biking if that’s your passion. Do whatever brings you joy, especially the physical activities. I don’t see any of my 90-year-old gals riding horses or racing dirt bikes. So do it now while you can.

Planning for your future is important. For many of us, it’s a big part of our financial plans. Living only for today, and short-changing yourself in the long run is about as wise as playing in on-coming traffic while wearing a blindfold. But we can’t plan so much for the future that we completely forget about ourselves right now either. Don’t focus so much on today that you can’t enjoy tomorrow, but don’t focus so much on tomorrow that you can’t enjoy today. My gals at the salon always remind me how lucky I am that can I race to grab the phone, lift heavy boxes delivered with hair products, or even walk down the stairs without holding the railing. They remind me how great my life is right now. My career has given me a unique and fantastically real view of what is to come for many of us, and I do not intend to waste it.

Our lives aren’t going to be like this forever. So why wait? We may push things off so much that the opportunities we thought we had, have all but come and gone. Look at your Bucket List. What’s on it? Is it traveling places? Climbing a volcano in Hawaii, visiting the Coliseum, or driving cross-country in an RV? Is it doing activities you rarely get the chance to do? Riding horses on the beach, swimming with dolphins, or even dying your hair purple? Is it spending more time with loved ones? Helping coach your kids’ soccer team, spending a weekend skiing with your spouse, or going on girls’ trip with your mom?

We only have a certain amount of time in our lives to do these, and none of us know exactly how much time that is. So do it. Stop wasting time. Stop pushing it off. If you can’t afford if right now, save for it. Plan for it in 5 years, not 25 years. Don’t assume life is going to go as planned and you have “plenty of time” to achieve these, because what if you don’t? Are you going to be laying on your death bed wishing you had spent more time at the office or mopped your floors more often? We can always come up with excuses for why we need to work all weekend, why we should put off that dream vacation for another few years, and why we’ll just plain “do it tomorrow.” But tomorrow isn’t promised. We can’t keep pushing everything off. If you’re lucky enough to live into your 90’s, are you going to look back on your life filled with amazing memories and experiences? Or are you going to look back and wish you had spent your life actually living?