Saturday, August 20, 2011

Existing To Live

In her book Cold Tangerines Shauna Niequest wrote:

"I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud. And I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God belly laugh, glad that He gave life to someone who loves the gift."

I resonate so much with that quote because that's the kind of life I'm determined to be living. Ever since my sleep problems started getting better this spring I've been attacking life with a vigor and it's been such an amazing experience that I never want to go back to living to exist rather than existing to live.

I've had such an amazing summer so far packed with experiences that I'll never forget. Going horseback riding and feeling fear with an equal measure of feeling so alive when the horse started to run. Four wheeling through the bush and nearly coming face to face with a bear and her cubs. Kayaking on the lake. Golfing just because the weather was nice and I could. Staying up until all hours of the night talking with friends. Meeting new people and connecting with them on a soul level. Watching my nephew as he experiences so many "firsts". Spending days out by the pool. Reading books that are so good I want to share them with everyone I meet. Taking spontaneous road trips in my suv. The list goes on and on.

Today I'm writing this to reflect and be thankful, but also to remind myself never to get so busy or caught up in the details of life that I forget to really live. And also because I never want to overlook the One who give me this life and the One who I want to honour with every moment that He gives me.

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