One Of Those Big Life Questions...

I have been having one of those magical epiphanies this week.  A simple question has led to a lot of deep thinking.  In church on Sunday as part of the sermon, our pastor posed the question, "What would you do if you knew you only had 24 more hours to live?  At the time, I thought that I would probably not do much differently than how I live now.  I have pretty happy days.  I might have a good dinner with all of the people that I love and possibly order all of the desserts on the menu.  Other than that I am pretty grateful for the life that I have.  

However, that afternoon, I came home and while doing other things I was watching the History Channel.  The afternoon's shows were dedicated to doomsday prophecies of Nostradamus, the Mayan calendar, etc., of the world ending on December 21st of this year.  (Why do I do this to myself and watch this stuff?)  But it has had me thinking what if I only had this year to live, what would I do differently?  Wow!  That is a big question.  What would I do to make sure that I savor each and every single day?  I would do a few things that would make life even better.  Then I had the epiphany that I can do all of these things anyway this year and fulfill things I have wanted to do anyway.  So this is my plan for this year:

Number 1, I will visit Yosemite this year.  It is only four hours away.  I have lived in California since 1975 and I have never seen it.  In the past few years, they have opened dog trails in Yosemite.  Liesl and I are going hiking there this year.  Number 2, I will plant jasmine outside my bedroom window.  I love the smell of jasmine and would like to smell it as I go to sleep.  Number 3, I will be less afraid of taking risks and accomplishing those things that I want to accomplish now.  I will wear more lip gloss because I love it and think it is pretty.  I might try false eyelashes, too.  I have to think about that though.  

My relationships are pretty profound, but I think that I would try to make the close friendships that I enjoy even better and I will be less shy about telling people that I love them.  I will use the good china this year.  I have had it for 25 years and can count on one hand the number of times that I have used it.  I will not waste time worrying about things that just do not matter.  I will live with my full heart and mind and do things that I really care about.  My prayer life will be a lot more profound, too.

I think that living like this could be extremely liberating.  It sort of gives me that sparkly magical feeling that I could create my life in the year ahead (what is within my power) to be one that is filled with more joy, love, laughter and fun.  Thinking about the things that I really want instead of I think should be.  I once saw Wayne Dyer speak in person and he gave the analogy of seeing two lamps for sale.  We don't really love them,in fact they are kind of unattractive but the price is low, so we buy them and take them home anyway.  He said then you see a rug that you don't really care for, but it is half price so you take it home.  He went on to say that before you know it, you have filled up your house (or your life really) with things that you do not absolutely love and you wonder why it is not working.  (Instead of only bringing things, people and situations into your life that you absolutely adore.)

This will be the year that I do the things that I have wanted to do, treasure what I already have, to bring things into my life that I really, really want, and to add only what I absolutely love.  I am so excited.  

May this year be filled with so much beauty and happiness for you, too!