I don’t know how many times I say this in any given month, but you only get one life. And we have no idea how long that life will be. I’ve told you my plan is to live to be at least 111 like Bilbo Baggins. The epic party to be thrown in my honor has already been mapped out. It will be the party of the century and you’re gonna want to be on that invite list. But I digress.
I didn’t come to write about my last days. I wanted to share the joy of making the most of every day. I consider myself to be life’s biggest Stan. Maybe that’s not true. There absolutely could be others out there who are more fanatically in love with life than I am. Coodles to them! I consider them to be excellent company and infinitely wise – whoever they are.
I love life. And I’m on a mission to make sure I get the most out of the one I’ve been gifted. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, or even listened to my podcast, you know life has been full of ups and downs. No one makes it through unscathed. It’s just how it is. Life requires us to encounter humans and as humans, we are broken. In our brokenness, we do some crazy things to each other. There is a saying often quoted in church and across Al Gore’s internets that I’ve adopted into my own lexicon. “Hurting people hurt people.” It’s true. When we are hurting, we see the world from a lens of pain. And when you’re in pain, you have to protect yourself at all cost. That means ultimately, you will inflict pain on others. But there is another side of that coin. It’s also starting to pick up steam online. “Healed people heal people.”
I love this so much because I have done the work to live a healed life. I’m not perfect and there are all kinds of things that can trigger my flight/fight response. For the record, I’m almost always going into fight mode. I rarely choose flight, even when it is wise to do so. (Work in progress!)
Part of how I live fully into this life I’ve been given is to do things that bring me joy. For me, that is trying new things, especially if they involve me being in nature. Nature is life! This past Saturday, I joined a group of friends for a day of sailing. To be honest, I have always wanted to learn how to sail. Ever since I watched Dawson’s Creek back in high school and college, it was my plan to create a life that involved me being on a boat somewhere. Living in the pacific northwest makes that super possible. So, my friends and I rented a sailboat for a few hours and took that baby out for a spin.
“I found a way to heal myself instead and damn I feel alive.”
singer/songwriter Kelani
We got to raise the sail, learned how to steer (I’m a natural as you would expect) and of course there was lots of laughter, wine, dancing, singing, and pictures to capture the moment.
I’m grateful to be surrounded by people who are just as committed to living as I am.
