"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." - Vincent Van Gogh

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Are you living passionately?

This past week we have all been dreadfully aware at the shortness of life. We have publicly watched and grieved over the lives of young people who were just beginning to live. It's been a sad week to bring in the new season.

Social media has been full of stories of the deceased given by family and friends who are trying to deal with the loss of their loved ones and memorize their lives as best they can.

Did you know that the people who die the hardest are those who didn't live life to the fullest reports Elizabeth Kubler Ross? Every day we age. I'm reminded of that as I look in the mirror and wonder where the years have gone. I'm dreadfully aware of that fact as I fight with my slow metabolism while I eat like a little birdie and slowly wait for changes in my body. As new age spots appear and new creaks in my bones and pains in my joints take over I marvel at the brevity of life.

I am so much more now than I was back in my youth. I'm more me... more alive and yet, I squander a great amount of time. Maybe it's just the way that life is and maybe it's indicative of my energy level but I don't feel that I'm embracing and cherishing every moment to it's fullest and it bothers me. Sometimes for me I fear it's that for so many years I had to learn to dial back life while living with a severe chronic illness. I had to learn to accept my limitations and I think I learned it a bit too well. Now I learn how to live live to the fullest again.

One skill that we start to cultivate as we get older is acceptance. It becomes time to accept that life indeed does have a beginning and an end. We learn to accept both our bright happy sides and our sad sinful sides. Acceptance means that we acknowledge that there is nothing that we can do about many situations in our life and we learn to give them to God. Acceptance keeps us in a state of peace and faith. We trust that it all will work out in the end.

But acceptance without action and hope leave little room for passion in life. Every moment is a gift, every day is to be cherished. Every wink of an eye or hug needs to be savored. Today my message is the same as it has been all week. Laugh.. love...cherish. Milk the most out of your day. Keep your electronic time down to a minimum and your people time up. It's easy this time of year to take those few days that you get and cherish your family. Not to be morbid, but none of us knows who will be here next Christmas. Life is your greatest gift! Make the most of it today... it's good for the soul.

On that note.... Push the link to the right of this article - the colorful one on living passionately for the year of 2013 in your life and business. Sometimes it helps to write things down... journal and plan. I'm doing it. It's not something that I've invented, I purchased someone else's plan... but it's a useful tool for me this year and it can be for you too. Part of planning for next year is looking back on this year to celebrate what you did right and look for improvement about what you can do better next year. I'm doing both and it's really educational. Blessings!

No comments:

Post a Comment