Life Is Meant To Be Lived...

"Some people measure their lives in pulse rates and sit-ups.
Far better to measure yoursin licks of ice cream,
well-told jokes, mad dashes to be first in the water, belly laughs...

And, when you die, it won't be an erratic shift in your heartrate,
it will be an overdose of mirth, fun poisoning, death by laughter."
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Things happen so quickly in life. I just received a prayer request from my instructor, her little sister has cancer, and it sounds like it has spread rapidly. My cousins just lost their grandmother. Another friend lost his father. On the news you see all the horrors of car wrecks, killings, crimes, etc... And all of a sudden I just want to stop, take a step back...

Life is hard. Life is tough. We work at work, we work at school, we work at staying healthy - being fit and eating right, we work at teaching our kids right from wrong, and we work at making ourselves a better person. But when all of a sudden you realize that tragedy could be around the bend, work seems less important. Life should be lived, and we all have to work, but we all need to take time to work on enjoying the work that we do. Work on enjoying the two minutes that our six year old wants to ramble about pokemon; enjoy the ten minute drive home with our teenagers while you have them secluded in a vehicle and they "must" answer all questions including the too often forgotten "how was your day"; enjoy the few moments of alone time with our husband; and enjoy the beauty in the world around us that we rush past, speed through, ignore, forget and too often take for granted.

Living life means a lot of things to a lot of different people. But me, I want to live my life with no regrets. I don't want to regret not making paper airplanes instead of reading my book; and, I don't want to regret watching the sunrise and set and feeling that loss of "where did this day go?" I want to live my life before some unknown tragedy hits. I don't want to wait until time is too precious. Time is too precious now, we just need to stop and realize it more often. I want to remember the silly, precious, seemingly unimportant moments in life. I want to look back and remember laughing at nothing with the most important people in my life. I want to look back and know that I didn't waste a moment worrying about what to do next, but just took the leap to walk outside and throw a ball around, plant a tree, ride bikes, run through the sprinkler,  pick dandelions, and dance in the kitchen. Those are the briefest, yet most memorable times, and we must take advantage of them when they are given to us.

The easiest sentiment... Live, Laugh, Love. But really, really do it, with all you are go out and Live each moment, Laugh whenever you can, and Love not just your family and friends, but the world and the life that you have been blessed with.