A Precarious Position or an Opportunity for Adventure?

Sometimes following a dream may feel precarious.  We might feel overwhelmed by the scope of it.  Scared, even.  Is it worth years and years of pursuit?  Is there any guaranteed payoff in the end?
.Fair questions.  Reasonable feelings..But I've been having this thought lately ....The time will pass anyway..It took me nine years of really working - nearly every day - to reach publication.  This next book will come out three years after the first.  .But the truth is - that time was going to pass anyway.  I was going to have the same 45th (yes, it's true..yikes!) birthday this summer regardless if I spent the past twelve years organizing my tupperware cupboard, focusing on my day job or pursuing my dream of being a published author.. So - here's my thought for those of you (including myself at times) out there wondering if it is worth the personal investment...the time will pass all the same - why not go for it?  Why not be 60 or 70 or 80 and think "I finally did it" instead of "I wish I would have..." ??? . .