Live Like We're Dying

In light of the narrowly escaped (!) apocalypse on Saturday, I'd like to take an opportunity to play back some old hits. Not songs really, just some things that I have said in the past that I think bears repeating.

For months leading up to May 21st, the internet was rife with apocalyptic exclamations. There were articles about what one should do to survive an apocalypse. There were ads offering to take care of your pets during the post-apocalyptic chaos. Considering that no one on Earth has ever survived one and no one would be around after one, these articles and advertisements seemed, to me, frivolous at best.

If the world was indeed coming to an end soon, what would you do differently? I'm not talking about some person who, insane or not, sincerely thinks it's going to happen; I'm talking about if there was irrefutable proof, scientific evidence that the end was near. What would you do?

Would you learn to fly a plane? Would you climb a mountain? Would you take a trip around the world? Would you volunteer at a children's hospital? Would you start an animal rescue? Would you make yourself appreciate your life and all the blessings you take for granted? Would you stop stressing about small things? Would you stop being afraid to express your true feelings?

We always make the mistake of thinking we have more time. "I'll do that tomorrow," we say. "Oh, there's plenty of time to get that done," we reason. "I want to mend fences with my mother, but I'm not ready. I need more time," we rationalize.

I have a friend who just recently lost her father. He was perfectly fine one day, and he died from a heart attack the next. As I spoke with her, she recalled her last visit with him just days before. They were talking about building something together, and she said to him, "Oh, Dad, we have time. We don't have to do it now." But they didn't. After telling me that story, she said to me, "People always talk about living for today, about living like it's your last day on Earth, but until you actually do it, you don't really get it."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

So in the spirit of the Well-Fed Spirit oldies but goodies, I leave you with this: stop living your life like tomorrow is a guarantee. The only time that matters is now because it's the only time that truly exists. Learn to fly a plane RIGHT NOW. Climb a mountain RIGHT NOW. Build a fire pit with your dad RIGHT NOW. Not later today. Not in ten minutes. Be the person that you want to be, live the life that you want to live.

Right now.

Come to think of it, I will play a song. If you're having trouble with the Right Now Movement, this song should get you sufficiently ready.

Until next week(ish),

Feed on love, subsist on peace.

Gratitude, Praise, and All Manner of Thanksgiving

Today you're in for a treat. I have asked a friend and fellow blogger to guest blog for The Well-Fed Spirit. In exchanging comments and following each other's blogs, we discovered that we have a lot in common. What caught my attention about her is how, no matter what may be going on in her life, she is always grateful. Since gratitude is something that I try to maintain in my own life as well as on this blog, I thought it would be fitting to have someone else give their take on its expression. If you enjoy my blog, I know you will enjoy our guest blogger. Please accept her lesson and pass it on to others.

Without further ado, may I present to you Semi True Torystellar:

I love Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday.  Food, football, and family without the stress and drama that in my experience happens on Christmas over presents or whatever.   So, for me it doesn’t really get much better.  And poor Thanksgiving finds itself becoming a nominal blip on the radar screen of life.  Sort of makes me wonder if we, as a culture are so fat and happy that we are losing sight of what it is to be really thankful.  

I'm not even talking about being thankful for the big things.  For even the really simple things we should express our gratitude to God or the Universe, however you acknowledge the existence of a higher power.  Thanksgiving should remind us, not only of pilgrims and Indians as we were all taught in grade school, but of the larger message and picture.  

I could bombard you with a ton of statistics in the vein of how if you have $15 in your pocket or checking account you are better of than 92% of the world's population, but that has been done ad nasuem to the end effect of people becoming desensitized to it.  I would rather us consider something slightly different. No matter how badly you have it right now.  No matter how badly you are hurting, how deep in debt you are or how lonely you think you are; at this moment someone has it worse.  It may be hard to believe depending on your situation but I guarantee you it is true.   

In addition, when I pray or meditate on thankfulness I find myself practicing being thankful not only for the really great things in my life - my husband, my kids, my home, down comforter and puffy pillows - but also for the things that I've come through that I would rather not have had to deal with.  Heartbreak, child abuse, poverty, addictions just to name a few.  The reason that I can be thankful for the things that I would rather not deal have had to deal with is because they give me perspective.  Without the bad I couldn't appreciate the good things nearly as much as I do.   

As trite as this may seem, I would like to challenge everyone to list your ABC's of thankfulness.  I got a headstart and have been doing mine one a day since the beginning of the month.  But if you sit down I bet you can jot off a list of 26 things you are thankful for in no time at all.  They can be the really big things, family, or your home or they can be the little things like the ink in your pen or the vodka in your glass in the evenings.  You can share or not, but it's a good exercise to help keep things in perspective this season.  

Peace be with all of you.