It’s my birthday and I’ll dance if I want to . . . dance if I want to. Okay, so that’s not really the way the song goes, but it’s what I’m feeling today. It’s my birthday. I turn forty-five. A milestone year for me. For some people it’s thirty or forty or fifty, but for me forty-five is that magical number. Part of the reason may be because my mom died at the age of forty-nine. So each year becomes a milestone year as I draw closer to that age. I hold my breath and wonder if this is the year for me. It’s the fear and the reality I live with. However, one thing I’ve learned from that experience is to enjoy every moment and live life without regrets. Don’t put anything off, because you just never know. That was over thirteen years ago and some years I do better than others remembering this life lesson. So this year, I’ve re-determined to live life like I mean it and to grab hold with both hands and be the heroine of my own life.
This past week, we spent time on a family vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was totally unplugged for the first time in a long time, which gave me a chance to reflect and enjoy the pause, which I seldom seem to do these days. And it felt good, if a little scary! We had a blast. We walked miles on the beach, searched for sand crabs at night, ate too much food, played hard in the ocean and at the pool, got too much sun, shopped until we dropped, listened to good books and read a few as well, celebrated birthdays, built sandcastles and watched the ocean reclaim its own. We cried at the emergency room, but laughed while we played 18 holes of putt-putt golf with son number two in a wheelchair. We floated with family on the lazy river, tapped along with a live rendition of Layla and Margaritaville at an outdoor café while eating dinner, took naps, played games, and just hung out and enjoyed the company of those we love as we did life together. It was amazing. We crammed lots of living in to that one week.
And that’s what made me realize that life is what happens between the pauses. It’s important that we take time to reflect on life, analyze, set goals, work hard, push, push, push. But it’s also imperative for our health and well-being to remember what this journey is all about. Life also happens between those bouts of vacation stays, planning and reflection, and hard work.
We need to make sure that our lives reflect the journey we want for ourselves. Are we making the most of every moment and cramming in as much life as possible? Are we living life without regrets? Or are we waiting for that magical moment when something happens to begin living? Truly living. Are we waiting to grab life with both hands for that someday when our life is perfect, our marriage is perfect, we’re published, we’re working our dream job?
My challenge to you, and to myself every day this year, is to make sure no matter where the journey leads that I’m living life on my terms and making the most of every opportunity because you just never know. You never know where that next step will lead or what that next day will bring.
One of the beach slogans I saw this past week that resonated with me was YOLO--You Only Live Once. Sometimes I don’t live life with the YOLO mindset. I don’t make the most of every moment. I let life beat me up and push me around like I’m someone floating along on a life raft on the ocean waiting to be rescued. But this year, this milestone year of forty-five, I’m determined to live my life on my terms, like I’m the heroine of my own journey and the master of my own destiny. Because I really want to look back at the next pause and know beyond a shadow of doubt that I’ve lived life to the fullest. How about you? Will you take the YOLO challenge?
