The thought that won’t let me alone lately is Carpe Diem - you know, Seize the Day.
Some of this has been about the album I’m working on right now, feeling this determination to keep going, don’t stop, don’t let it sit. But it also reaches to other areas of my life. I know I’m still relatively young, and I could have a lot of years ahead of me. But I also know how time marches on and doesn’t wait, and that there’s already a good bit of life behind me. And even now, I know some opportunities are getting just a little bit fewer, and some doors have already closed and may not open again.
I’m not saying I think my life has passed me by. Far from. I think that no matter what age we live to, there will always be things to reach for, things to learn and to give. I’m also not saying I don’t enjoy what I’m given to do each day, because there are things God has blessed me with that I find joy in. But I can look back 10, 15, 20 years and remember many of the things I had planned to do, and some of them I still haven’t done and may never. And I don’t want another chunk of time to go by and then I wake up one day and realize more opportunities have gone behind me now that I never reached for.
And there’s so many reasons to not reach. Fear of failure, straight up laziness, having less time than I used to each day, losing focus, losing a sense of purpose, or for some reason thinking I’m happier in the car with the windows up watching things go by outside instead of making the effort to stop the car, open the door, and make myself a part of them.
God has created us to NOT just settle while life passes by. I know we should find contentment while walking our path in life, but we shouldn’t mistake contentment for losing the desire to reach. Whatever God has given me to do, I don’t want to bury it because it causes some discomfort or fear. God made us to learn, to progress, to step out and LIVE, to NOT BE AFRAID. And if He has put a deep desire in us to do something, wouldn’t it be terrible to be too afraid to take the plunge, to really deeply experience the growth and the life that we could get from it? But more than just the getting and the learning, it’s the sharing with others, the lives we could touch because of something beautiful God has put in us, that we would lose out on. And that would just be heartbreaking. Especially if we let the opportunities completely pass us by and eventually could only look back with regret.
So here’s to Seizing the Day, every darn bit of it!
Some of this has been about the album I’m working on right now, feeling this determination to keep going, don’t stop, don’t let it sit. But it also reaches to other areas of my life. I know I’m still relatively young, and I could have a lot of years ahead of me. But I also know how time marches on and doesn’t wait, and that there’s already a good bit of life behind me. And even now, I know some opportunities are getting just a little bit fewer, and some doors have already closed and may not open again.
I’m not saying I think my life has passed me by. Far from. I think that no matter what age we live to, there will always be things to reach for, things to learn and to give. I’m also not saying I don’t enjoy what I’m given to do each day, because there are things God has blessed me with that I find joy in. But I can look back 10, 15, 20 years and remember many of the things I had planned to do, and some of them I still haven’t done and may never. And I don’t want another chunk of time to go by and then I wake up one day and realize more opportunities have gone behind me now that I never reached for.
And there’s so many reasons to not reach. Fear of failure, straight up laziness, having less time than I used to each day, losing focus, losing a sense of purpose, or for some reason thinking I’m happier in the car with the windows up watching things go by outside instead of making the effort to stop the car, open the door, and make myself a part of them.
God has created us to NOT just settle while life passes by. I know we should find contentment while walking our path in life, but we shouldn’t mistake contentment for losing the desire to reach. Whatever God has given me to do, I don’t want to bury it because it causes some discomfort or fear. God made us to learn, to progress, to step out and LIVE, to NOT BE AFRAID. And if He has put a deep desire in us to do something, wouldn’t it be terrible to be too afraid to take the plunge, to really deeply experience the growth and the life that we could get from it? But more than just the getting and the learning, it’s the sharing with others, the lives we could touch because of something beautiful God has put in us, that we would lose out on. And that would just be heartbreaking. Especially if we let the opportunities completely pass us by and eventually could only look back with regret.
So here’s to Seizing the Day, every darn bit of it!