Living life to the fullest
Wow, I have a head full of things to write and only about half an hour to get it written down...
Sometimes in my life, I hear the same thing from several very different sources, as though I'm MEANT to "get" whatever that message is. (Call it God, serendipity, whatever...I just recognize that it's happening.) Recently the message has been about living life to the fullest. Today it came in the form of my dance teacher relaying a story her father used to tell.
At the end of the hour of adult jazz dancing, our wonderful, wise instructor has us cool-down with stretches to soothing music and then lie in "corpse pose" on the floor - on our backs with our bodies completely relaxed. She then shares a bit of wisdom with us. Today she reminded us that we are each like sailing ships. While a new sailboat might be made of gorgeous mahogany and gleaming brass, its point is not to stay, pristine, anchored in the harbor. Its job is to journey out onto the sea. There will be days of beautiful calm, serene seas and days of ferocious storms. Some of the brass may tarnish and some of the wood may warp, but the ship is doing the job it's meant to do, SAIL. Like the sailboat, we must venture out into life, knowing that there will be calm days and stormy days, easy times and rough times. But savoring each day for its uniqueness and LIVING each day, rather than just surviving it in some safe harbor.
I've heard this message, too, from Oprah and Maya Angelou - live life being fully in the moment. I'm working on this, as I'm the queen of multi-tasking and not really enjoying ANY of the things I'm doing. And this applies particularly to spending time with my kids. I find my mind wandering off to the next task, bill to pay, phone call I need to make, etc., while I'm talking with them or playing with them. The time I have with them, I realize, is extraordinarily short. I must stop my brain from racing ahead and SAVOR those moments with my babies.
Our pastor prays each week something along the lines of: "Lord, let me have everything, let me have nothing. Let me be employed for you, let me be put aside for you..." His point is, let me experience all life has to offer: all the richness of happiness and the depths of sadness, of having and of needing, ALL of it, for that is the journey we are meant to take.
I've certainly had all of it in my life, the joys and the sorrows. But have I savored it, appreciated the complexities and depth of it all? Not so much. But now I'm working on it. (I say as I sit alone in front of my computer! However, maybe spending time in introspection is the beginning of appreciating my life...) Because, really if I'm not enjoying, savoring, appreciating each moment, what's life for?
OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
Sometimes in my life, I hear the same thing from several very different sources, as though I'm MEANT to "get" whatever that message is. (Call it God, serendipity, whatever...I just recognize that it's happening.) Recently the message has been about living life to the fullest. Today it came in the form of my dance teacher relaying a story her father used to tell.
At the end of the hour of adult jazz dancing, our wonderful, wise instructor has us cool-down with stretches to soothing music and then lie in "corpse pose" on the floor - on our backs with our bodies completely relaxed. She then shares a bit of wisdom with us. Today she reminded us that we are each like sailing ships. While a new sailboat might be made of gorgeous mahogany and gleaming brass, its point is not to stay, pristine, anchored in the harbor. Its job is to journey out onto the sea. There will be days of beautiful calm, serene seas and days of ferocious storms. Some of the brass may tarnish and some of the wood may warp, but the ship is doing the job it's meant to do, SAIL. Like the sailboat, we must venture out into life, knowing that there will be calm days and stormy days, easy times and rough times. But savoring each day for its uniqueness and LIVING each day, rather than just surviving it in some safe harbor.
I've heard this message, too, from Oprah and Maya Angelou - live life being fully in the moment. I'm working on this, as I'm the queen of multi-tasking and not really enjoying ANY of the things I'm doing. And this applies particularly to spending time with my kids. I find my mind wandering off to the next task, bill to pay, phone call I need to make, etc., while I'm talking with them or playing with them. The time I have with them, I realize, is extraordinarily short. I must stop my brain from racing ahead and SAVOR those moments with my babies.
Our pastor prays each week something along the lines of: "Lord, let me have everything, let me have nothing. Let me be employed for you, let me be put aside for you..." His point is, let me experience all life has to offer: all the richness of happiness and the depths of sadness, of having and of needing, ALL of it, for that is the journey we are meant to take.
I've certainly had all of it in my life, the joys and the sorrows. But have I savored it, appreciated the complexities and depth of it all? Not so much. But now I'm working on it. (I say as I sit alone in front of my computer! However, maybe spending time in introspection is the beginning of appreciating my life...) Because, really if I'm not enjoying, savoring, appreciating each moment, what's life for?
OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
posted by my two cents at 1:38 PM
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