A bowlful of Spaghetti…continued.

22 Jan A bowlful of Spaghetti…continued.

I’m sitting in my robe, in my warm room, freshly showered, freshly Zumba(ed?), and watching one of my favorite movies. It’s a dance movie..shocking. I’ve always wanted to be a (hip hop) dancer. Did you know that? …I’m not. I teach Zumba instead. When I was younger and could have started dancing I didn’t have the confidence to think I could do it. Now I’m probably a little old to bust out the dance lessons. But who knows…maybe I’ll surprise everyone, myself included, one day!!? This morning I taught Zumba and what would you know….there was a guy there!!! Although I invite guys to Zumba all the time and tell them that they should join…few do. I am always a little apprehensive when guys come to class. I never know what they’re expectations are and thus am fearful they are going to blush up and run out of the room screaming after just a few seconds of class.

This guy didn’t though…in fact, he was awesome! Not in a he’s-danced-his-whole-life kind of way, but he was simply comfortable in his own skin. It was fantastic. He pumped and shook and did everything everyone else did without missing a beat (Ok, well maybe a few beats, but he didn’t care.) I was so taken back by his comfortableness and confidence. It was incredibly refreshing. I thought “If only we could all take ourselves less seriously and be more like that all the time?!”

Which leads me to the point of all of this…how many times have you heard someone say “Do as I say not as I do.” (That story led to this statement because I am often not as comfortable and confident in my own skin as I’d like…In case you were confused.) This is because often we peer into other peoples’ situations and have the most incredible insight. Quite often we also have great advice we like to dish out. (Generally, whether it is appropriately timed or not…and without considering whether the person you’re giving advice to is actually asking for advice or not…but that’s a different soap box for a different day.) We give out great advice and then someone looks into our lives and says, “But wait…you’re not doing what you said. You’re still ____ (fill in the blank with whatever pattern, habit, cycle, situation we get ourselves into.) Why do we do this? Well simply because it’s easier to “talk the talk than walk the walk” so to speak.

I have found myself doing this on quite a few occasions lately. Yesterday I was talking to one of my friends and I said something about her life being her own life to live and how she had allowed someone to take the Authority of her life and lead it for her. I told her that she was the only one who could take it back and it was only her’s to have. I boldly asked that if she died tomorrow would she be okay with where she was at today. Now granted I think that the idea of living like you’re dying is kinda of a difficult one to maneuver…simply because if we all did this by going sky diving and back packing through Europe our world would eventually cease to function because we’d all be playing. I don’t think this is a very good idea…however, I am a firm believer in loving what you’re doing and seizing the day, and taking opportunities to have adventures and not get stuck in ruts. But again…easier said than done, right?

The problem is that when you get comfortable and stuck in ruts you lose your ‘perception’ (shout out to KJM and PJZ on that one)…you begin taking the people who are really important and special in your life for granted and things that you love become jobs and duties. I think this is a tragedy. So today I challenge you to reassess where you are and what you’re doing day to day. Are you appreciating those around you? Are you telling them? Are you loving life in general and having fun? Are you smiling everyday and every hour? Are you laughing? Are you putting your best energy into what’s really important? Are you enjoying and soaking in the rich love people give to you? Are you thanking God for your blessings? Are you doing what you want? Instead of what you should…just saying. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t fall victim to this sometimes as well. But I try not to let it happen often because without joy, without happiness, without appreciation, without playing, and without laughing…

…it isn’t life at all.

It’s simply an existence.