more like a journal entry than anything...

Something I've been thinking about lately is the ever-avoided "d" word = death. I've been thinking about it more along the lines of not taking this world and this life (the one life we are given) for granted. I think about the loved ones I've lost to disease...and the many that have survived!!! and how precious those people really are to me. I also just watched a documentary on the plane crash in the Hudson River this past January and how everyone on that plane was faced with death (TWICE) and survived! Praise be to God! At the end of the documentary, they all expressed a completely changed outlook on life and on loving people...all people, and never taking a single person for granted, even themselves. They don't feel limited to accomplish anything anymore. It's amazing! I want to live like that! I want to love like that! My husband has never experienced a loss in his life. He is 26 yrs old. He does not have a concept for losing someone or something close and dear to him on a "forever" basis, and the way in which he views life and pain and lose is quite different from mine. Something's missing from his view of the world and the people in it, heaven, hell, God, loss, and love. I, on the other hand, have lost loved ones and know what the pain is like. I don't have tattoos, but I imagine it being much like getting your first one. You know there's going to be pain but you don't know what that pain is going to feel like exactly, or how much it's going to hurt until they start drawing, and by that time, it's too late to tell the tattoo artist to stop. I find it interesting that day after day I wake up with something more to complain about. Something more to say "I want" or "I need", when all I need and want has been given to me - yet, for some reason, it's still not enough. This topic sounds elementary and so basic but it's been on my mind as of late in a very tangible way. Sometimes things like these come around again as a reminder that this life is temporary and to, flat out, make the most of it. To challenge your mind and your capabilities daily, to do things that scare you every once in a while (for me, that's going on rollercoaster with big DROPS!), to say "yes" at every opportunity, to do your best and work hard, and to love people in a deep way. Why? Because it's good for our soul. and it's good for others. and while we're all living on this earth together, we might as well make the most of what it has to offer. there is so much on this earth to experience and be a part of. I hope this has inspired you in some way. Writing this out has inspired me to work hard on my homework right now and do a good job (when it's the total absolute last thing on this planet I want to do!*with all due respect, mrs. craner:)* hehe ) xo