Part 7, Crash Course in Wisdom: From Dreaming to Planning to Redesigning

It’s Never Too Late

Last week we talked about choosing peace over being right. And sometimes, the peace you choose is also the path that keeps you moving forward. That’s the beauty of wisdom: it reminds you that as long as you’re still here, you still have time.

That’s why this week's Crash Course in Wisdom is: it’s never too late.

I was reminded of that recently at the Harris Theater during the Unbound: Shattered Frames, Endless Visions event (read that blog here). The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project brought together ten phenomenal dance companies. Watching those dancers reminded me of my own dream of dancing. 

For a moment, I felt like I had missed my chance. But as the music filled the room, I realized: I may or may not live that dream on stage, but it’s not too late if I still want to. Maybe I’m meant to live it by supporting, telling the story, and making sure others get to see the magic.

That’s the thing about dreams: sometimes they evolve. Sometimes they shift. But they don’t expire as long as you’re still breathing. It’s never too late to keep living and here are a few ways you can do it.

It’s Never Too Late to Apologize or to Forgive

One of the most powerful ways to free yourself is through an apology or forgiveness. Maybe you hurt someone years ago, or maybe someone hurt you. Maybe pride kept you from admitting you were wrong, or pain kept you from letting go. Maybe you thought too much time had passed, or you just couldn’t find the right words. Whatever the reason, let me say: it is never too late to say the words, whatever they are. “I love you.” “I’m sorry.” “I forgive you.”

Apologies don’t just heal the person you’re speaking to. They heal you. They release you from the weight of carrying something you could have put down long ago. Even if the other person has moved on or can’t accept it, the act of apologizing is still a reset for your soul.

It’s Never Too Late to Leave What’s Not Working

We often stay in things far too long; relationships, jobs, even habits because we’re afraid of starting over or we are just stuck. We tell ourselves, “I’ve already invested so much.” But sometimes the wisest move is to cut your losses and walk away.

It doesn’t matter if it’s been five months, five years, or fifty. If something is draining your joy, it’s not too late to say, “Enough.” Leaving doesn’t mean you failed. It means you’re brave enough to choose life. Your life, to be specific.

It’s Never Too Late to Speak Up

Too many of us hold back words that need to be said. Sometimes it’s the I’m sorry or I forgive you, but sometimes it’s more than a phrase or even a sentence. It could be a paragraph or an entire conversation.

Maybe you don’t know how to get the conversation going. Or maybe it’s fear in the way. Fear of how the words will land. Fear of what emotions might come up after the words come out. Fear that once you say it, you can’t put the jack back in the box.

But if you stay silent, you pay the price with your peace. Sometimes that unspoken pain even turns into disease in the body. Not all pain is physical. Some of it is emotional. Emotions you’ve swallowed and stuffed away — now stuck in your throat, your gut, your knees, or your back.

You might be waiting for the right time, the right tone, the right words, or the right intention. But it’s hard to get them all right. So go ahead, say what needs to be said from a calm, grounded place. Even if it means the relationship ends, the good news is the pain might go with it. The longer you avoid it, the heavier it becomes. But the moment you let it out, you feel lighter. And, it’s never too late to feel lighter.

It’s Never Too Late to Go Where You Haven’t Gone

How many times have you said, “One day I’ll go there” or “Someday I’ll try that”? Let me break it to you: one day and someday aren’t real days on the calendar. They’re just ways of postponing life experiences.

They are ways of masking fear so you don’t have to do the thing. Sometimes dreaming about it feels like enough. You want to know why? Because the brain doesn’t know the difference. The same place in your brain that processes actual experiences is the same place that processes imagination. If you’ve imagined it enough times, your subconscious brain will begin to believe you’ve already been there. It feels resolved.

But your heart still feels the void because your conscious brain knows the difference. It knows you haven’t been there. It knows you still want to go. And it knows that someday isn’t real unless you put it on the calendar.

If there’s a place you’ve always wanted to see, or an experience you’ve always wanted to have, make a promise to yourself. Put it on the calendar. Start saving a little. Ask someone to go with you. Take the first step. Tomorrow is never promised, but today is available.

It’s Never Too Late to Redesign Your Life

If that plan didn’t work out, you may have to redesign it.

Some of you reading this may feel like it’s too late to plan for retirement because you didn’t start early enough. Others may already be retired and think you’re stuck with the decisions you’ve made. Maybe you think your money is running out, or your time is. There’s so much to plan when it comes to retirement, and if you’re not feeling confident about it, there’s more you need to do.

It’s never too late to plan and redesign what you thought retirement would be. Retirement isn’t just about money. It’s about how you live. It’s about joy. It’s about freedom. It’s about the people you spend time with and the activities you experience. But it’s also about healthcare costs, investments, housing, and aging.

Again, it’s never too late to redesign the way you live. That might mean working part-time at something you love. It might mean traveling. It might mean joining a group, starting a business, or pouring more into your community. It might mean adjusting your finances, but it also means adjusting your thinking.

The next series we’ll be sharing in Bronzecomm is all about retirement, but not retirement as an ending. Retirement as a redesign. You’re still alive, which means you still have options. One of those options is to really live, even if it means you have to budget.

Today’s Crash Course in Wisdom

It’s never too late.
Not too late to apologize.
Not too late to leave.
Not too late to speak.
Not too late to go.
Not too late to redesign.

Don’t let age or time stop you. And don’t let someday turn into never. As long as you’re still here, you still have time.

Tell us: what part of your life are you ready to redesign?

👉🏽 Next week, we’ll take this conversation deeper as we begin a new series on retirement, not as a finish line, but as a new beginning.