while listening to pandora the other day, a song by kris allen {live like we’re dying} caught my attention. it wasn’t the music per se nor the overall message of the song that struck me, but the underlying message. he sings about a clock that’s ticking, that we only have 86,400 seconds in a day…honestly, that stresses me out right there. he sings that we’ve gotta live like we dyin’.
really?
it’s true that every second counts. absolutely. but do we really need to live with some sense of impending doom to make us appreciate what we’ve got right here, right now? what if we get in a car crash? what if we get sick? what if someone we love dies? are we such callous people that that’s what it takes to wake us up? i do not believe it. fear is not the source of love and life. love just is. life just is.
i guess i see it like this. it matters how we think about things, how we frame ideas in our minds. and it matters how we express these things, how we speak these things. it’s the difference between telling a toddler to “please use gentle touches” versus “stop hitting”. in the first instance, there is power for the toddler to embrace for himself/herself…power to do something positive. it’s subtle. it’s important.
words matter. attitude matters.
so what if we think about living fully just because we’ve got to live? just because. we are here. it is our duty to live fully, mindfully, and with love. it is the perspective that matters so much… we need a positive starting point.
the assumption of potential good…
let us see what is right before us, not what may or may not appear in the future. here and now…let us live fully. let us see the beauty in the tulip as it opens, as light shines through its petals. let us continue to see its beauty as its stalk begins to droop. let us see its beauty as it fades and joins the soil from which is grew. let us see, let us appreciate, let us love, let us really live.
sending a little love your way, m
Michelle GD 
Michelle,
This spoke to me deeply.
My husband and I have been undergoing fertility treatments in an effort to get pregnant (have been trying for 8 years but have only been pursuing fertility treatments for 6 months) and in some ways I have been putting my life on hold with the hopes that maybe, just maybe, we’ll get pregnant. As you can imagine, living for a future that might not happen has the potential to create a lot of sadness.
So… I’ve been working hard on letting all of that go.
Your words have really helped me work through this today and to create intention to live in the moment.
Thank you.
Jennifer
oh, jennifer…big hugs to you. you are working with heavy challenges. i can imagine the tendency to put your life on hold…so natural, and so, well hopeful. you can still keep your dreams while living in the moment. and perhaps your dreams may shift…
xo
live life in the moments. i like it.
it’s a challenge i like as well…
This reminds me a lot of Tim McGraw’s 2004 hit song, “Live Like You Were Dying” which he released when his dad passed away the same year. He wasn’t the writer of the song, but they wrote it specifically for him after he told them the advice his dying dad gave him, which was to live life to the fullest, and do the things you always wanted to do. He says he took his dad’s advice, and went skydiving, mountain climbing, fishing, and Bull riding… And read the Bible. He said after he took the advice,and a long hard look at his life prior to this time, he has become a better husband and friend. Great post.
thanks for your thoughts here. there really is power in living fully…