Alive

I always felt that living in the moment was some kind of extraordinary measure. One that not everybody gets to experience and you're lucky to recognize living in them when you are. And while, in part that might be true, I think a lot of times we don’t know that we are living in those moments until they've passed. One day you look back and realize the past few days, weeks, months have flown by because all that mattered was the moment you were living in. You weren’t living for yesterday or tomorrow, it was just here, right now.

What matters is what we do with the life we have.

It’s funny, my grandfather used to say this phrase before he would hang up the phone - he would say, "be good, I love you now." At 20 I didn’t realize how much that would resonate with me almost 10 years since he’s been gone. I've talked a lot about how we never know when the bus is coming, this could be our last day on earth and have we really been giving it our best shot? Did you try that new hobby you said you wanted to, or pick flowers from your yard just because they looked beautiful? Did you buy that carton of ice cream even if you only wanted two bites? How about, did you tell the people you love that you love them? What if you never get the chance to again? The truth is, the future is scary. The unknown is terrifying. So what if, instead of waiting out of fear, we did it scared. Because it's OK to be scared. Being raw and vulnerable takes courage, and courage only shows up when fear makes an appearance. So be here, now. Do what it is you’re too scared to do. You may never get this chance again, what do you have to lose? Now ask yourself, what do you have to gain?

One day you are going to wake up and wish you had spent more time not taking these moments for granted. Be here, now.

“Almost dead yesterday, maybe dead tomorrow, but alive, gloriously alive, today.”