Here’s something I genuinely don’t understand. People are always waiting.
Waiting for someone to tell them it’s okay.
Waiting for a sign.
Waiting for safety.
Waiting for permission.
Waiting for something to magically make their life better.
Or worse, waiting for someone to stop them. You will wait forever. And when one of those things finally happens, you’ll just start waiting for the next one. And when it doesn’t happen, you’ll still wait anyway.
That is bat-shit crazy. If you’ve been reading these letters, you already know where I stand: live your fucking life. Full stop.
No one is coming to call you out.
No one is coming to shut you down.
No one cares nearly as much as you think.
But here’s the flip side no one talks about:
No one is coming to tell you to send it either.
No one is going to tell you to jump off the proverbial cliff.
No one is going to tell you to build the thing, take the trip, start the company, quit the job, or do the unreasonable thing.
You just have to do it. Living your life while waiting for permission is nonsense. 99.9% of people do not care what you’re doing or who you’re doing it with.
Not to quote Nike, but just do it.
In the end, it is almost always better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I don’t mean that in a “be reckless for the sake of it” way (although… guilty). I mean it in the sense that no one is handing out permission slips for your life.
Life just happens. You can either happen to life or let life happen to you.
Sometimes you’ll have to beg for forgiveness. That’s okay. It means you’re trying. It means you’re pushing boundaries. It means you’re alive.
It also won’t always be easy. That does not mean you shouldn’t do it. I would rather live an epic 80 years than a boring 120.
After college, people sort of stop telling you what to do, but somehow the pressure gets louder and more existential. Family expectations creep in. The world starts whispering:
“Really? You’re not successful yet?”
Fuck that.
If you’re happy, I’m happy. Live your life the way you want to live it. Surround yourself with people who love you and push you. Be the best version of yourself.
I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it.
Find the people who pull you toward things, not the ones who drag you away from them. The world doesn’t need more people playing it safe. It needs people who try, who fail, who send it anyway.
Send this to your friends. Everyone needs to hear it.
My friends love me (and sometimes hate me lol) for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that I make life interesting.
I don’t ask for permission. I beg for forgiveness. And I try to make a lot of people smile along the way.
-Mack
Disagree with me in the comments