Thursday, August 17, 2006

Being Bigger


The last couple of days have been busy. I'm hoping tomorrow slows down a bit.

The high point of my day was getting to have lunch with Trish. She just returned from a rafting trip with her son, Nick, in the Grand Canyon. They've done the trip before, but this one was really exceptional. She said she is feeling more "herself" than before the trip. I know just what she means. I sometimes can tell that I *need* to do something dramatic. And you come home feeling "bigger" and "more."

We were talking today about how people make their lives busy so they don't have to make any decisions about them. You "don't have time" for anything so you can just drift from one day to another. This is probably one of the reasons organized sports for kids have increased 200% in the past 20 years - what better excuse than "it's for the kids." You can get life so busy that there's no time, so you never take the initiative to make plans for a trip through the grand canyon so you don't have the risk of getting out of your comfort zone. It's easy to keep your life "small," with little chance for growth, when you heap on so many things that you "don't have time" for anything other than the ordinary. It's a mentality that has created a nation of zombies going through daily life with little true pleasure in it - always planning for "some day" - when the kids are grown, I lose weight, or there's money in the bank. People... This is it... It's all we get... Don't squander it.

Ask yourself...

When was the last time you did something that scared you? Really scared you? Made your heart pound and your palms sweat because it was unknown? If it has been more than a couple of months you're overdue.

When was the last time you had the same excitement you feel over a first kiss? I'm not suggesting you should go kiss someone new if you're in a relationship, I'm saying look for the feeling - the anticipation, the thrill, the excitement. When were you last that excited about anything?

Don't let life slip by going from one of your kid's ballgames to another one, drifting between work and dinner and then tv at home, without living somewhere inbetween.

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