It's so easy to float through life, waiting for the next moment of bliss. But while we are waiting, we miss out on our life.
Sometimes, I just want to sit around and do nothing. I want to wallow in my struggles, be lazy about my goals, and avoid anything that would challenge me. Bettering myself, though a desire of mine, tends to fall second to laziness and the comfort that comes with it.
On my days off, I keep thinking, "I could crochet a scarf today", "I could make candles today", "I could go for a walk at the park", "I could go read my bible", or "I could get ahead on my blog". Instead, the end result is usually me watching Netflix for far too long, eating salty, fattening foods, or giving in to negative thinking for hours at the time.
Oscar Wilde once said "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist." Honestly, this quote sounds like something that would end up on a refrigerator magnet or a Facebook cover photo. But if you really think about it, there is a whole lot of truth in that tiny little statement.
Each day, we get out of bed and immediately start hoping that the day goes by quickly. We wait for the end of our work day before we even get to work.
On Monday morning, we are already waiting for Friday afternoon. And the day after Christmas, we start waiting for Thanksgiving. We are a culture of unsatisfied creatures, always waiting for the next best thing.
Living in such an unsatisfied state keeps us from being effective in the here and now. If we are constantly waiting for the clock to hit "go home" time at the end of each day, we are probably missing all sorts of small moments to connect with people, to go the extra mile in our work, and to take advantage of our talents.
When we exist, we float through and half-heartedly participate in our own lives. When we live, we thrive!
Living means:
- Actively searching for ways to improve our lives: How can we change our bad habits? How can we improve our attitudes? How can we strengthen our faith?
- Looking purposefully for ways to make a difference in the lives of others.
- Using our talents: how can we use our gifts more effectively today than we did yesterday?
- Enjoying the little things: our spouse's smile, our dog's slobbery kisses,
the sunshine's warm rays, and the boldness of a cup of coffee.
-Pursuing goals and dreams: even if it seems impossible, we should search for ways to make our dreams into reality.
Existing means:
- Refusing to change: staying exactly the way we've been, with no interest in improving.
- Ignoring opportunities to help others.
- Avoiding, ignoring, or not being open to using and growing our talents.
- Choosing to complain about little annoyances.
- Believing that our dreams will always just be dreams.
If we want to thrive, merely existing can no longer be our way of living. We must dare to dream, strive towards those dreams, and constantly improve ourselves. Every single person on the planet could stand to improve. Ghandi and Mother Theresa could have even improved. We all have flaws, and until Jesus returns, we always will, but we can constantly strive to do better. And working towards that in every sphere of our lives is, in fact, living!
It's really tough sometimes to get into the right mindset, or to push ourselves to be our best. It can be difficult, frustrating, and sometimes even scary, but the alternative- the not living- is far more frightening!
We are all capable of great things. We have the potential to change the world through our character, through our faith, and through our talents. We have been given gifts that can make an impact- if we use them, sharpen them, and put them into practice. The question is, do you want to change the world, or merely exist in it?
Live your life. Live it fiercely and purposefully. Do not just exist.
