What are you waiting for?

For the right time?
For someone to permit you?
For the fear of “What will people say?” to disappear?

Let me tell you something about myself.

I have always loved sports. I still play a lot of racquet sports, and being Pakistani, it probably goes without saying that I love cricket too.

I was passionate about cricket and loved playing it. As it is a team sport, I played a lot with my male cousins throughout my preteen and teenage years. I was actually pretty good. However, cricket was seen as a man’s sport. I hardly knew any girls who played, and I don’t remember ever thinking about joining a team or getting proper coaching. It simply wasn’t something I saw as an option.

It wasn’t that someone told me I couldn’t. I just never really imagined myself pursuing it. And I guess that’s how some passions quietly become secret desires. You enjoy something, you know you’re good at it, but somehow you also know that it’s not really for you.

Years later, here in Denmark, I was invited to play cricket for a club. I hesitated. It had been so many years, and I wasn’t sure I could still play. But I went. And it just came naturally to me. After watching me hit each ball for a drive, the coach said, “You play like a pro.”

It made me smile. And I discovered that the girl who loved cricket was still there; she had never really disappeared. I had just stopped listening to her.

This made me realise how easily we can put parts of ourselves aside without even noticing. How many dreams, interests, and possibilities do we quietly leave behind and put away because of:

What will others say?
It is too late!
What if I fail?
What if people don’t take me seriously?

Remember, time doesn’t wait. It’s like grains of sand slipping through your fingers. The harder you try to hold on, the faster they disappear.

Take hold of your life; Do what your heart is calling you to do. I did, and after almost 30 years, I’ve started playing cricket again.

Don’t wait until you feel ready. Because sometimes, the biggest thing standing between you and the life you want isn’t the fear of failure.

It’s doubt.

So… what are you waiting for?