How many sayings and idioms are there?
Wake up and smell the coffee.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull
boy.
Don’t put off till tomorrow what can be done today.
Easy does it - One day at time.
Eat,
drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.
There’s a silver lining behind every cloud.
Stop
and smell the roses.
I’m sure there are hundreds more. All of them tell us to be aware of our surroundings enough to notice we are experiencing the gift of life right now. All of them quoted often. Many are clique’s so easy to remember they are engrained into us … yet still we forget the message.
So often we get to involved in our daily activities that we forget why we are doing them. I’m no exception to the rule. It happens to me also. But more often then most, it seems, I realize what is happening and I immediately kick back. I’ll take myself to lunch and buy the kids meal. Then I sit in the corner and play with the toy. I sit back and laugh at the people that look at me funny. They told me I was crazy. I didn’t care. If this was crazy, I liked it. It made me sad that others couldn’t understand.
One day something happened, that changed me forever. People stopped calling me crazy. They told me to go ahead and enjoy life. Finally! I thought they understood, but I noticed they didn’t join me. They just stood there and watched with sadness. One piece of news that didn’t bother me at all changed everyone else’s attitudes about my attitude. This bothered me. I could handle being crazy. I couldn’t handle everyone thinking, or treating me as if, I was dead or dying - Especially when I knew better! I’m alive, and I’ve got the kids meal toys to prove it!
For a long time I tried to convince others that I’m alive. Notice I didn’t say that I wasn’t dying. Face it folks, we are all dying. It is inevitable. It starts from the moment we are born. But it does not stop with bad news, sickness or a challenge to face. Unfortunately that is when it begins for most. They are the lucky ones, because they have seen the change in attitudes around them and then discovered life. The rest are living in uncertain times. Face it, you could slip in the tub or get hit by a bus and not remember the last time you felt alive. Point this out to people and you know what they say? "Yup, he’s definitely dealing with a live ending illness."
Well, I’m done trying to convince others that I’m still alive. I know
I am, that will have to be enough. What I want to do now is get everyone else to realize
that they are alive.
You don’t have to play with toys to know it. That works for me, but different things
work for different people. Trick is to find out what works for you.
So I ask,
When is the last time you watched a sunrise? Or a sunset? (By the way,
there is a difference between watching a sunrise and noticing the sun is in your eyes
while you drive to work.)
When is the last time you took a walk in the rain? (Again, difference
between a walk in the rain and run with cursing.)
When was the last time you played with children because you wanted to?
Have you walked barefoot in the grass?
Climbed a mountain?
Stared at the stars on a clear night?
Felt the music?
Built a sandcastle?
Listened to water lap at the shore?
Marveled at the wonders of nature?
Talked to the animals?
Or toured the Chocolate factory?
When was the last time you did anything that made you remember you are alive and enjoying the gift of being here?
I came up with this idea for a Celebration. Just so you know, a Celebration is defined as "1)…a ritual to Honor. 2) To commemorate (an anniversary, holiday, etc) with festivity. 3) to honor publicly…to have a good time." I would like you to Celebrate the fact that YOU are alive. Here's your invitation. You pick the day (no pressure or time frame here - this really looses it’s effectiveness if you pencil it into your schedule). If you need an excuse, print out or get a copy of this and use it. This is your license to, without any reason, feel alive and enjoy every moment you are given.
HOW TO CELEBRATE THAT YOU ARE ALIVE
Do anything!! Don’t think about it - just feel it. Bring back that child like (not childish) quality of wonder, curiosity, exploration and excitement. Then look back on it and learn something about the life you are in. Here's a short list of things you might want to try.
The list can be endless. What it really boils down to is finding that moment you stop and realize "I'm Alive, and it feels good." If you try hard you can find that moment even on the worst day of your life, and then things don't seem so bad (cherish the pain and heartache it leads to better things).
One last suggestion, Share the experience. I know it isn’t fair to say that I’m the only one that enjoys life. It that where true we wouldn’t have poetry and art. Write down one of these experiences (I hope you have more then one) and share it with the world (send it to me. I'd love to hear about it). I hope you enjoy your celebration and continue to practice it year round, and teaching it to others as well.
Please address your life experiences "Experiences" or
"X" so I can find them easier. Thank you.
My e-mail address is misfit@misfitslife.com
Some of my favorite quotes about Life and Death.
ROSENCRANTZ- "What ever became of the moment when one first knew about Death? There must have been one, a moment, in childhood when it first occurred to you that you don't go on forever. It must have been shattering - stamped into one's memory. And yet I can't remember it. It never occurred to me at all. What does one make of that? We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the words for it, before we know that there are words, out we come, bloodied and squalling with all the knowledge that for all the compasses in the world, there's only one direction, and time is its only measure." ** "Do you ever think of yourself as actually dead, lying in a box with a lid on it? ... Nor do I really ... it's silly to be depressed by it. I mean one thinks of it like being alive in a box, one keeps forgetting to take into account the fact that one is dead ... which should make all the difference ... shouldn't it? I mean, you'd never know you were in a box, would you? It would be just like being asleep in a box. Not that I'd like to sleep in a box, mind you, not without any air - you'd wake up dead, for a start, and then where would you be? In a box. That's the bit don't like, frankly. That's why I don't think of it ... Because you'd be helpless, wouldn't you? Stuffed in a box like that, I mean you'd be in there for ever. Even taking into account the fact that you're dead, it isn't a pleasant thought. Especially if you're dead, really ... ask yourself, if I asked you straight off - I'm going to stuff you in a box now, would you rather be alive or dead? Naturally, you'd prefer to be alive. Life in a box is better than no life at all. I expect. You'd have a chance at least. You could lie there thinking - well, at least I'm not dead! In a minute someone's going to bang on the lid and tell me to come out. "Hey you, whatsyername! Come out of there!" I wouldn’t think about it, if I were you. You’d only get depressed. " **
3rd Rock from the Sun Quote
HARRY- So I was on my way to the big race …and a paper bag blew across the road, and I was afraid it was full of bunnies so I swerved, and right as the car was flying into the ditch my whole life flashed before my eyes.
DICK- Harry I don't mean to be insensitive but, what's your point?
HARRY- Well, all I could think was "I have a rage to live!" and then the car landed and I said "Hey World, I’m Alive! And these pants are washable!" … What matters most is life itself and the greatest thing about life is not having a purpose, it's finding a purpose."
Please address your life experiences "Experiences" or
"X" so I can find them easier. Thank you.
My e-mail address is misfit@misfitslife.com
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