To Survive Is Not Enough

I ended my last blog with the line “... trying to keep my head above water.” I was specifically talking about money, but I was also speaking in broader terms. Right now my life is about survival. Survive to the next check. Survive this temper tantrum. Make the deadline at work. Keep Grayson from having an asthma attack when he gets a cold. Slide payments around to pay the mortgage on time without bouncing checks. Survive just this day. Make it through this week. This month. This year.

There is something to be said for surviving this big bad world but it is not enough.

Life is not something to be trudged through. It will always be hard, but instead of bemoaning that fact we need to take charge of the one thing we can control. Our reaction to it.

Life should be approached with a certain panache. We should go through life with reckless courage in an attempt to experience as much of life as we can. This is not a call to free spirited hedonism. I don't mean just have fun all the time. I mean embrace this life we are living with both arms. Wrap it up and love it. Sometimes it will suck. Other times it will be so wonderful you can't express it with words. Either way just be in it. Experience it. Love that woman you married even when both kids are screaming, the dogs are barking, a pot is boiling over and you just tripped over the humongous pile of laundry on the living room floor. Don't just hang in there live. Laugh out loud. Enjoy it not because it's so fun, but because you're alive. Good times or bad life is always good.

It also helps to remember that two days after that hell day you had your son will run up to you and squeeze you as hard as his little arms can because he's just so happy to see you. That’s nice.