Live while you live

I thought I would start my column with my usual closing quote: Live while you live! We all WILL die, and we probably could give that thought a little more credence. Too often we put off things that bring us joy because we don’t have it on our schedule, and we unconsciously believe that we have more days or weeks or years to get to it. Maybe we do, and maybe we don’t. We will not know until it is too late. I wonder if the people on the Titanic, as they were trying to secure a lifeboat, wished they would have said “I love you!” earlier in the day, or accepted that chocolate soufflé for dessert. How many conversations do we miss because we are watching our favorite TV shows, or walks we could have taken had we been able to say NO to a few tasks? I am guilty, for sure. There is never a time when all of our work is done, or all our obligations are completed. If we put off living until all conditions are perfect, we will run out of time. This morning a woman told me, “I’ve always wanted to climb Longs Peak!” Coincidently, last night I listened to a presentation from a thirteen year old boy who climbed all fifty-eight 14ers by the time he was twelve. The contrast between the two: One spoke about what she wanted to do, and the other did it. One was living while he lived, and the other was dreaming without action. The boy spoke with enthusiasm and said, “It was so much fun!…I loved this mountain the best!… The flowers above timberline are small yet so pretty!” The woman, on the other hand, gazed off into the distance, and her voice was soft and low. I do not want to be an old woman who rocks on the porch saying, “I sure wish I would have gone on that hot air balloon…or that rafting trip through the Grand Canyon…or lived in New York City for six months.” Instead, I want to be sitting on that swing at the end of the day, exhausted from checking off my bucket list…and smiling. I am also going to eat more rum-raisin ice cream and scream when I’m mad. How about YOU? Until the next time: Live while you live