Are you livin' life?

Photo by: Mark Shaw

It's interesting to me how easily an outsider - meaning someone who is outside of your mind, not depended upon by your responsibilities, free of your worries, and unaware of your insecurities - can clearly point you in the direction towards the things you long to do, to be, to learn, to see, to wear, to create, etc. That outsider can see through the I wish's and hopefully later's and see the desire and passion for now.


I try to help people live the life they hope for. To do something enjoyable each day, to make daily tasks and work the best it can be, to stop worrying about what is not there and to do something to prevent it from ever becoming a reality. To go to bed early with a good book, to talk to that handsome boy or pretty girl you've had your eye on, to be vulnerable and honest in conversation and hope that the other person likes what they see, then to move on with positivity if they do not. To make that trip, to call that friend, to develop a new talent. To do the things that make a richer, fuller life but are so often put on a shelf and looked at longingly while thinking I don't deserve that. Not yet.


However, the tables were turned during a conversation this weekend. I became the one who was told to live more of the life I have envisioned. I became the one to realize that I was placing pointless limits on myself merely for the purpose of placing limits. Or maybe it is out of a lack of desire to work for something that does not come naturally? I'm not sure yet.


And as my friend and I discussed the things we once did and wish we were doing, the question was posed: why not?  Why not practice now with the life you hope your future self will have?


So? Why not? We can each put aside the boundaries and expectations made by ourselves and those around us and begin living the fulfilling life we have in mind. Of course, we must remain responsible and dependable, but even while working through the drudgery of required tasks we can find enjoyment. Because after all, isn't joy what we are all pining for?