Live

Howdy,

How is everyone doing this fine Thursday evening? I do hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. We are fast approaching the weekend, it’s barely a day away. What are your plans? Doing anything exciting or going anywhere? I don’t have too much planned. Sunday, John and I are heading over to one of the parks and learning how to play some disc golf. It looks like fun. Something new and different. I’ll let you all know how it is. Other than that, not too much to report. Send me a text or message and let me know what you’re up to. I love hearing from you.

Oh, my book is near completion. I only have a couple more days to finish it. I did say I’d finish by my birthday and that’s what I intend to do. Then I figure it’ll take a couple of months to edit it, add some things and take out things. Hoping that will be easy to do. My first book though, so, wish me luck.

With all the crazy going on in not only my life, but life in general for a lot of folks, I thought I’d talk about, not only life, but how to live life. I saw a quote a few days back that got me thinking about this very subject. “Don’t be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don’t have to live forever, you just have to live.”- Natalie Babbitt. This really stirred up some mixed feelings about the way I was taught when I was a little girl. You see, I was taught that we don’t ever have to die. We can live forever in a paradise here on earth. I was so wrapped up in living forever in this so called paradise, I failed to see that I wasn’t living my life. I also failed to see that in order for me to be apart of this paradise, I had to be willing to accept that the majority of mankind would be destroyed in God’s day of war, Armageddon.

I totally accepted and taught this very teaching while immersed in the cult/religion. I now realize that I was so caught up in preaching a dooms day, a day that was supposed to come before I was old enough to have children of my own, then when I did have kids, I was taught that they would never graduate high school. They did and now I have one married and one who is nearly 25 years young. I wasn’t given the opportunity to LIVE and I robbed my sons of the opportunity to participate in life and being able to live life to the fullest when they were growing up. They missed out on birthday parties, Christmas, holidays in general. They missed being taught how to celebrate others. I am thankful though that neither one of them really took to the JW lifestyle and they are enjoying life now.

I decided to do a little research into living. What does it mean to really live? I found a lot of information and I really liked this site I found, http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/7-rules-to-follow-if-you-want-to-live-a-life-without-regrets. In the article it listed seven things that help us stop and think about our lives and living our lives. It said, “do ridiculous things.’ You never know what amazing things could happen. “Choose a job that will teach you the most.” When you do that, you will be choosing a career that you won’t regret.” I actually had some friends who shared their sons dilemma about his education and job. He wasn’t feeling the path he was on, and ultimately, the Universe could sense that , and made the path clear of where he needed to go. He landed a job that is right up his alley and it’s in the field of what he enjoys. The article stated this. “There are lots of ways to make money, fewer real opportunities to learn.”-Holiday. I am hopeful that my friends so is not only learning, but making money and that he’s happy.

Point three of the article said to “steer clear of charlatans and the toxic.” What the heck is a charlatan? According to Oxford language, it says a charlatan is “a person falsely claiming to have special knowledge or skill; a fraud, a self confessed con artist.” Point three really had a huge impact on me and made me really think. “Regular friend purges are a must, says Holiday. So are influence purges, the sources of information you follow. You become whom you know. You conform to your surroundings. Make sure those two facts are taking you in a direction you want to go.” The Bible hits this one, nail on the head. 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.”

Really made me stop and think. John knows my struggle with one particular friend/enemy. There are times when this person can be the best of friends and then walk out the front door and blindside me and toss me under a bus to others. No reason for it. It’s just who this person is. Purging friendships isn’t an easy task, but when you stop and think about it, what is that person bringing to your table? Are they a positive influence? Are they helping you live life in a good, positive and productive way, or are they sucking the life out of you and making you exhausted from having to keep up with their shenanigan’s? I need to really take time to meditate on this one for sure.

“Value the quiet moments. A well lived life doesn’t mean a life jam-packed with adventures and achievements. It means a life in which you take the time to appreciate what you have. It’s in the quiet, still moments that we feel what matters in life.” I know for me, I need to slow down a bit. Having this new home, I want to share it with everyone and I’ve found that I’m doing too much to where I was starting to lose the chance to appreciate having this amazing home. I had to put the brakes on and step back so I can have quiet moments on the deck to watch the sunset. It’s taking time to write my book and my blog, two things that bring me so much joy.

Do you have a philosophy? According to Holiday, “have a philosophy. Life philosophies aren’t only for the great and learned. Don’t wing life, focus, and live by something.” What about comparing ourselves to others? “Don’t compare yourself with other people. Seriously. Don’t. It will make you miserable, no matter how outwardly successful you are. Caesar famously wept at the feet of a statue of Alexander the Great. Now their both gone. We will be too someday. In the mean time, who cares whether so and so did this or that earlier or even better then you?” Who cares in the end? Made me think of my aunt who will most likely spend the rest of her life in a hospital. At the end of the day, everything she had in this life, doesn’t mean a thing anymore. It can’t change her circumstances. I can only hope that she lived her life to the best she could and she has little to no regrets. More than that, I hope she can remember the good times in her life and enjoy those memories.

The final thought about living life in the article was this. “Think about death.” HUH??? Yup, that’s what it said. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart said Steve Jobs.” The article went onto say that we should think about death a lot, but I don’t agree with that. In my opinion, I know I’m going to die one day, any day, who knows, but if I’m busy thinking about death, then I’m not living.

Live! Eat the dessert first. ” Don’t be afraid your life will end: be afraid that it will never begin.”-Grace Hansen. I guess with that being said, go Live! Live your life with little to no regrets. Like the song, My Way, by Frank Sinatra, “and now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain. My friend, I’ll make it clear, I’ll state my case of which I am certain I’ve lived a life that’s full. I’ve traveled each and every highway, and more, much more, I did it my way. Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption…. I faced it all and I stood tall, and did it my way. I’ve loved, laughed and cried….For what is a man, what has he got if not himself, then he has naught. I did it my way.”

Well friends, what do you think about this subject? Leave me a comment and let me know and please, don’t forget to Live! Until next time, Love Life++