Dead Poets

I was driving back from dropping my daughter at school. Barely thinking- just going through the motions. I was beating myself up a little for blowing off my morning workout, and trying to think of when I'd fit it in. I made it to my house without even realizing how I'd gotten there. 

I sat in the car for a bit and took the time to notice what a beautiful morning it was. I looked over at my youngest in the car seat in the back, asleep- the wind gently blowing her curls. She was a perfect picture of angelic innocence. I marvelled at my husband- fighting like warrior against stage 3 adenocarcinoma appendix cancer. 

My life is precious. Every moment that passes is the last time I'll get to live that moment. I stopped feeling bad about not working out, but remembered why I started working out- so I could enjoy these moments to the fullest AND to be able to live through more of them.

This line from one of Henry David Thoreau's poem (that I only know thanks to the movie Dead Poet's Society) popped into my head:

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived.”

Now more than ever, I'm reminded that life is short. To die and discover that I had not lived?  No way!

Now I know we all have things to do... a laundry list of chores that we have to get through just to make it day to day.  But cliche as it may sound, take time to smell the flowers. Do what you need to do, but figure out what makes you happy- and make it happen.

Sometimes it's small things. Beside being a personal trainer and wellness coach, I write grants for a small non-profit that does community health outreach. I've been swamped with writing grants, caring for my husband, maintaining my daughters' busy schedules (only somewhat). I needed a mental health break, but had a deadline.

The sun and time with my family do wonders for me, and I wasn't ready to let the weekend go... so I put on an old tank top and beat up pajama shorts, threw my hair in a bun and sat on my porch with my laptop, writing the grant proposal in the sun, and watching my baby girl ride her Dora bike.  It recharged my batteries, and I'm excited about my workout tomorrow.

The lesson?  Cliches are cliches for a reason and dead poets seriously rock!

But really- you owe it to yourself to figure out what makes you happy- then revel in it.  Immerse yourself in happiness!  Live your best life. Find a way to be able to enjoy it, even as you're meeting your obligations. If you can't- maybe it's time to re-evaluate how you spend your time.

Make your life a life you LOVE to live! After that- living a healthy lifestyle follows naturally.  When you're happy with yourself and with the world, making healthy decisions is easy. You want to be around to suck the marrow out of life (so you can pass on the pork chop)!