15 Stories about “leaving it for later”, which will serve as a stimulus for those who are afraid to live for today

There’s nothing wrong with saving up to buy something you want. However, very often, the extreme economy, of money or things, becomes something almost pathological. And we’re not just talking about people with compulsive hoarding disorder: many ordinary people sometimes do the same and prefer to postpone life’s pleasures, conversations with friends or family, until the “right” day, which doesn’t always come.

This post from awesome.club invites you to look back and ask yourself if there is a dream, or maybe a favorite outfit that you never had the courage to wear and have been waiting a long time for the right opportunity. Perhaps, the stories below will serve as an inspiration to convince you that time passes faster than we think, and that the right time may be now. Follow!

My grandmother lived all her life in a small house in the country, where the water well was half a mile away. She liked to make tea and give her grandchildren sweets, but only one a week. A few years after her death, we were sorting out her belongings when we found a large amount of money in a box. It was enough to buy an apartment at the time, but now, it’s almost worthless. © rosablack / Pikabu

My mother raised me alone, and at most we had money for bread and pasta. Later, in the 2000s, our financial situation improved and I started to have new things. But I was still very ashamed of our house and especially of the old dishes: I didn’t call my friends because I felt uncomfortable sitting in the kitchen and drinking coffee from cups that could cut your lips. So, back in college, I convinced my mother to sell the house. When preparing things for the move, we opened a shed that we never put away. There, we found a new dinner set, inherited from my grandmother — but covered in horse droppings and rainwater. We had to throw it all away. I asked my mother so much to buy new dishes and she never said anything about that device forgotten in the shed. © Moskma / Pikabu

As a child, I was quite envious of my friends who had those celebrity posters taped to their bedroom wall. Another dream was to have a music box, but my parents didn’t have money for any of that. So they bought an old recorder that destroyed cassettes and had speakers that made a terrible noise. Later, my husband finally bought some really cool speakers, but I found out that I hate loud music. Today, too, I am past the age of having posters on the wall. Those were two things I never had at the time I wanted them, and I remember that with a lot of sadness. © podlychka / Pikabu

My girlfriend and I live with my grandmother. Sometimes we help with housework. One day, my girlfriend wanted to iron some clothes, but the iron was very old, really old. My grandmother saw the scene and said: “Hey, wait, let me get you a new iron, which was not bought so long ago”. She brought a cardboard box, with the same iron model, but purchased more recently, in 1989. © Monday12 / Pikabu

We wanted to go to Murmansk — a city in northern Russia — to see the Northern Lights. There was free time and the ticket cost less than 175 dollars. So my mom asked, “Where to? Murmansk?! What do you work for if you’re going to spend it all later?” Indeed, what do you work for? Is it not to spend the salary?! Her life was like this: she always worked and never lived for herself. Ultimately, she didn’t have great experiences or money. © prepod2000 / Pikabu

On one occasion, my great-grandmother made savory pies for a family lunch. I found them delicious. So she asked, “Did you like it?” Of course, everyone ate with satisfaction in their eyes, until she uttered the withering sentence: “Oh, good, because this meat had been stored for two years and I didn’t know what else to do with it”. © Подслушано / Vk

I remembered the story of a woman who lived in the countryside. Her daughter went to visit her and presented her with a very pretty scarf, the kind you wrap around your head. Her mother loved the gift and said she would keep it to use for a special occasion. Up until this point, she had worn it inside out, saying she didn’t want to ruin the material. After a while, the mother realized that life was passing by and she needed to enjoy it more while she could. From then on, she started using the scarf on several occasions, with the embroidery showing. She also started to wear new clothes and made several pieces with fabrics and threads she had at home. Luckily, she had golden hands for sewing and had time to reinvent herself. © unknown / AdMe.ru

I first thought of the stupid mantra “I’ll save it for New Year’s” – another version of “leave it for later” – when I was 10 and gained beautiful baby bumps. marshmallows shaped like fruit, quite expensive at the time. I waited so long that they spoiled and I never got to taste them. © _tomato_***er / Twitter

When my dad was left alone, my sister and I decided to do a big clean up at his house. It took us a month to organize and clean everything. We put our hands in the dough from the early hours of the morning until late at night. I told my sister I would get the electronics, some of my dad’s stuff, and maybe some souvenirs. I took a lot of stuff, and the house turned out beautiful. But my dad, to this day, is pissed at us, saying we threw away good stuff that could still be useful. I have four children and, in my opinion, there is enough junk in that house for three generations. © Лучшая из лучших / Яндекс.Дзен

I’m a sailor. At the beginning of my career, I had contracts of six to eight months, but now they are 28 days. The salary isn’t bad at all, I have a family and I haven’t reached 30 yet. However, this life is similar to that of a video game: in the game, you have a house, a car, money and the like. However, the truth is that I spend most of my time living in a cabin with dirty bedding and enjoying nothing I have. © Подслушано / Vk

An acquaintance of mine is just over 40 years old. His mother spent her life selling goods from Turkey and Syria and always complained that she didn’t have enough money — not to mention that she dressed in very plain clothes. She saved on everything. Once, at lunch at a friend’s house, her mother said that she hadn’t eaten meat in a long time. Sometimes her son even helped her with the shopping. With the death of the matriarch, the family discovered that she had five apartments in three different cities and two bank accounts. In one of the apartments, she kept household appliances: televisions, microwaves, vacuum cleaners. In another, gold bars were found, which were supposed to be worth a few million. My acquaintance has always lived modestly and even bought his apartment on installment payments. Today, he says he feels sad because, on the one hand, she never helped him; and on the other hand, he never enjoyed more than he had. © Kubanoyd / Pikabu

I am 58 years old and I have not yet started to live. It’s some kind of block. Thinking rationally, I know that I am closer to the end of my life, but intuitively, I always hope for something. I get irritated with myself, yet I don’t do anything to change it. I recently retired and thought that I might become a ballerina, or a flight attendant, since I have time to study and I don’t have to work anymore. However, soon after, I put my feet on the ground: ugh, what a ballerina… I had to decide what I could actually do at my age. So I studied to become a barista, but nobody hires me because I’m “too old”. I still have a lot of trouble accepting that. © bella neris / Яндекс.Дзен

A long time ago, some of my relatives had imported furniture, but at their house, I always sat on the plastic protections, as they were afraid it would get damaged and would only “unwrap” it for special guests. One of my aunts, in her 70s, continues to wash her clothes in a very old washing machine, even though she has a new machine in storage. She says she is waiting for her son to buy a property to give him the washer in the box as a gift. The same happens with the refrigerator: she uses the old, small one, and leaves the new one in the packaging, waiting for the “right” day. © Anna Beniusz / Facebook

I left everything for later: I’m not going to wear that perfume today, because my hairstyle is weird, or because I’m not wearing nice shoes. I also had the habit of buying clothes in larger sizes to last longer: now I’m a few extra pounds, but in a month or two, I’ll have the perfect body and I’ll be able to wear them. New jeans hung in the wardrobe for years, the tags dusty. Ultimately, I ended up donating these clothes because I didn’t like them anymore. When they invited me on a date, I always made up some lame excuse: either I was busy, or I needed my nails done, or my hair wasn’t right, or I didn’t have clothes to go out… Fortunately, one day, my penny dropped: I realized to be depriving myself of many opportunities and wasting precious time of life, for nonsense. © ВБ / Яндекс.Дзен

My grandmother was an orphan, starved and worked hard all her life. She was once transferred to work in the mines, where she met my grandfather and they had children. Later, they moved to another city, where my mother and uncle grew up. My grandfather passed away shortly afterwards. My grandmother, due to an accident, could not walk in the last 14 years of her life. During all this time, she kept several beautiful dresses, which she never wore and which she bought when she was still working and earning money. After her death, we discovered that the clothes had been in their packaging for so long that we could no longer take them out without damaging them: they crumbled like sand at the slightest touch. But I don’t blame her for leaving so many things for later. She had a very difficult life, and the dresses were a symbol that, one day, everything would be all right. © Ольга Башта / Facebook

Do some relatives or friends of yours seem not to be “living” as they could? And you, do you usually keep things in the back of the closet, hoping to use them on some occasion, or do you prefer to enjoy one day after another, without too many plans? Comment! We are curious to know your opinion!