How To Live Life To The Fullest: Have You Ever.....?

Do you remember laying on the grass as a child, looking up at the clouds drifting by, and daydreaming about the future? The warm, gentle breeze caressed your face as you thought about mountains yet to climb, riches yet to be won, and praise and glory that would one day be yours. It was all there waiting for you, and in your young mind anything was possible….anything was possible!

Now, for many, the childhood years are far behind you, and silly daydreams of excitement and adventure are fading quickly, replaced by the mundane, the daily grind, and the weight of responsibilities. Maybe you think back to those days on the lawn, and you smile, and you shake your head and laugh at the hubris that was necessary to believe that immortality was yours and the sky was the limit.

Where has the time gone? How could the unlimited become limited so quickly? The past is littered with wasted opportunities, and your mind begins to grasp the harsh reality of it all, that there is no second chance in life, and the bell will soon toll for you as it has for everyone who has inhabited this planet.

Maybe, just maybe, it is time to make the most of the time left. Perhaps there are a few things left to do; perhaps there are thrills that still await you, and perhaps there are opportunities that only require your participation.

Have you ever sat on a bluff facing east, waiting for the sun to rise? The ground fog sits atop the frozen mantle, your breath crystallizes before you, the eagle flies over head, and that golden sliver and symbol of life finally peaks above the horizon. You sip from your coffee mug, feel the cold bite your skin, listen as nature awakens for another day, and embrace each and every molecule that surrounds you, for at that moment, in that place, you are one with the universe.

Have you ever held a newborn baby? It is as though you are holding creation itself, a squirming bundle of energy that beautifully represents the wonder of life. In your arms is a lifetime yet to be lived; in your arms are thousands of kind acts, thousands of laughs and thousands of tears, all waiting for their individual moment. In your arms is an endless array of chances and opportunities, and in your arms is the face of love.

Have you ever danced in the rain, or made snow angels, or splashed in puddles like you once did as a child? There is an amazing freedom attached to tossing aside self-image and saying to hell with what’s considered proper. The devil-may-care attitude of youth is somehow lost as we grow older, but who is to say we can’t recapture those moments? Let your hair down and remember what it was like to howl at the moon and laugh at, and with, life.

Have you ever walked away from security to find out what life feels like on the edge? Teetering on the brink, a chasm awaiting you, swallowing that fear and experiencing an explosion of senses as you face a risk like so many who have come before you. Courage is not measured by the chances avoided; no, courage is the embracing of those chances, and laughing at the fear that once crippled you.

Have you ever experienced unconditional love, a love so pure that it defies logic? Giving yourself completely to another human being, and knowing that you will not be judged, you will not be chastised, and you will always be supported; have you experienced it? Have you treated someone as your equal, and have you found that an important part of you is missing when the other is not there?

Have you ever felt totally and completely alive? All of your senses are in concert, playing a melody as old as time itself. The hair on the back of your neck stands up; your heart is pumping the life-giving fluid at such a rapid rate you feel you might explode, and yet you feel, strangely, in complete control….and there is serenity, for you are where you should be, doing what you should be doing, breathing in and out to the beat of an ancient drum.

It happens in fine increments, so fine, in fact, that we simply do not notice them. One day we are making snow angels, then the next we are remembering snow angels, and then we find ourselves forgetting them altogether.

We remember the sunsets, but become so busy with life we can’t seem to find the time to witness one.

We remember the joy of dating our spouse, the reckless abandon and longing in the eyes, but the years have robbed us of that abandon, that longing, and one day the fire has died and with it the joy.

We remember risk, the adrenalin rush of diving headfirst into the unknown, but today we tiptoe the straight and narrow, shaking our heads in dismay when we witness those who take chances.

The problem with normalcy is that it becomes, well, the norm! It is a safe cocoon, true, but it is also binding, stifling, and oh so repressive, and I would submit to you that man was not created to live within boundaries and embrace self-repression. We were given two feet with which to explore, two hands with which to create, and five senses with which to experience all the wonders of life, from the sweet scent of a woman’s hair to the exquisite softness of a baby’s skin.

Try this exercise: breathe in….breathe out…and then live like your tail is on fire! Somewhere in the deep recesses of your mind, you remember how to do it. It’s imprinted on your memory; all you have to do is scrape off the years of rust and let your imagination soar. All you have to do is say “to hell with it” and act like a child once again! All you have to do is…..live!

Are there risks? Most definitely! You run the risk of becoming ecstatic once again. You run the risk of feeling your heart pound and your senses explode. You run the risk of reaching your potential and of looking in the mirror and never again asking “what if.”

There will be those who will witness your metamorphosis and call you silly, and childish, and they will shake their heads in disdain. Pay them no mind, for deep inside them they are wishing they had conjured up the will to take one last trip around the track, and to squeeze one last ounce of unbridled passion out of their lives.

Today is your day! Right now is your moment! Get down on that grass, look up at the clouds, and say these three little words…..have I ever?

2012 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)