Worth Living

Life seems to be a discontinuous vacillating from breathtaking to mundane and it can change from one to the other without notice. For me, there are factors that help determine where I find myself on the continuum.

Rest. Rest sets the stage for my outlook. When I’m rested my full energy is focused on living and the task(s) at hand. Everything else seems more vibrant and alive, even the things that are typically easy to overlook seem more interesting.

Exercise. Exercise helps me push my body to its limit and after running or cycling or working out I feel so good. The happy endorphins exercise promotes are pumping through my body and though tired the feeling is good.

Intellect. I like things that make me think and ask questions and consider something in a new light. Reading, watching a documentary, engaging in a discussion about a topic I’m passionate about, writing, doing or appreciating art, listening to music, or watching good acting all make my mind work and I like that.

Food. I like food but I want food (both cooking and eating) to be an experience. I like to cook foods that are bursting with flavor and color and healthy nutrients. The taste of a dish that has been perfectly cooked and appropriately seasoned combined with the right glass of wine, nothing could be better.

Love. Expressing my heart and feelings in relationships is so important to who I am. Focusing care and attention on someone I love reminds me that life is bigger than my little place in it and it helps me experience life’s beauty and challenges with a realness that is very attractive to me.

While not an exhaustive list, these are the things that make life worth living from my perspective.

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Plane

Put my girl on a plane today and said goodbye. Not for forever, but for a while. Going off to a new place; caught up in the rat race. She says, “I wish I could live a life free from this.” I wish she could too, but ’til then I’ll miss seeing her face when I wake to the day; holding her close as night gives way.

Bills keep on coming and so we must work, but are we working to live or living to work?

I miss you my sweet, remember my kiss. And know from my heart how much you’ll be missed.

Seed

Tonight I ran at one of the metro-parks in my city.  Afterwards I planned to read under some trees on a bench.  As I approached the bench I noticed the surrounding area had been recently seeded with new grass.

My attention was drawn to the tiny seeds scattered about; hidden under a layer of straw. Some of the seeds had already taken root as new shoots of grass were bravely pushing through the ground.

I started thinking about those tiny seeds.  Every single one of them has all the potential contained within to become a blade of grass, but not all of them will.  Soil conditions, exposure to light, access to water, etc factor into whether or not those little seeds will become what they were made to be.  Seeds are designed with potential to become something other than what they are initially.

Human beings are a lot like seeds.  Each of us is designed with a potential that is, at our births, unrealized but meant to be.  Many of us never reach that potential for a variety of reasons.  Often we look at ourselves and think we were made to be seeds, while our real potential remains hidden away somewhere deep inside us.

The outer shell of every seed has to break open for it to reach its full potential.  The elusive you is waiting to come to life.  Are conditions in your life right for that potential to bravely surface?  If not, why not and what can you do about it?  You’re not just a seed.