Sometimes, I'll just be driving in my car and I'll have an epiphany: I'm not so young anymore.I know this year marks the 24th of my life. I know that. And to some people, it may seem like it's ridiculous to say that I feel like I'm already old... but to be honest, I've been through so much already in this life that it feels sometimes like I am an old soul.
So on these days when I have this realization, I always think of when I go to the beach, and I pick up a handful of glittery golden sand. I like sand on the beach at night because it's cool to the touch and it just feels softer. I love to pick up a handful of sand and let the grains slowly and gracefully sift their gritty way through my fingertips, back to its foreign home as a neighbor to the sea.
Life's a lot like that sand. I'll never be able to pick up the same grains again, no matter how carefully I drop the grains or how particular I am with how it falls back to the ground. And like the slow motion of the sand drifting back to the sea of gold under my toes, I'll never be able to get back a moment of my life after it's passed.
Even just this week, the world has lost three big names in the race of life. And as I have endured one trial after another these past few days, I've allowed room for introspection. What is TRULY important? If I only get that handful of sand back, what would I have done differently?
So lately I've been trying to enjoy my life with each new day. Laugh. Drink a second glass of your favorite wine. When you feel the urge to go talk to someone you don't know- do it. The other day I ran into an old high school teacher whose faith and kind spirit always stood out to me - so I told him, even though there's no way he remembered who I was. I walked away really glad that I had, because you never know how God is going to use you or what you say to someone else.
Buy a hammock and swing on it on a quiet summer night with someone that you care about- stare at the stars, open yourself up to them. Take time to play an extra five minutes with your dog. Go for a run before a rainstorm, enjoy the fresh air that accompanies the thunder. There are so many things in this world that are so easy to do and that can seriously improve the quality of your life if you'll just stop to enjoy them. I lost my grandfather last year, suddenly, and to this day I still wish he was here so that I could call him and we could rant about the crappy job our president is doing, or talk about golf, or have him rib me because I promised to send him something that I haven't gotten around to yet. My heart aches sometimes because I know he isn't coming back to me - but as much as I miss him, I don't regret anything because he left this earth and he knew exactly how much I loved him. I'd always take a minute to call him on Veteran's Day, or tell him how much I appreciated him when I was hanging out with my Dad and we called him together. That ache won't go away, but the satisfaction of knowing I chose to take a minute to enjoy my grandfather as he was will always stay with me.
I have the battle scars to prove that life on this Earth is anything but easy. Frankly, my scars are nothing compared to those of Jesus Christ, so when I have a bad or difficult day, I try to keep it in perspective. He's blessed us with the neverending gift of a brand new day every 24 hours. Tomorrow, use yours to go and do something unexpected. And as you do this,
Enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you are living a life well lived.
Parting thought:
Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers;pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God. - Phillips Brooks
Talk soon.
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