Luke will immediately recognize the motivation for this entry, and so will anyone else who read his live journal entry from last night. After reading it and posting my thoughts, I continued thinking about our propensity as humans to be discontent with our circumstances. In summer, we’re too hot, and we long for cold winter nights, cuddled up by the fire. In winter, we’re miserably cold, and the thought of sipping a cool drink by the pool sounds like paradise. So, why doesn’t sipping a cool drink by the pool sound like paradise in the summer when we’re hot? The grass is always greener somewhere else. We’re always looking ahead or behind . . . how great it’s gonna be when I finish school, how great it’s gonna be when I get that promotion, how much I’ll be able to accomplish once these restraints have been removed. Or how great it was back when . . . But “back when” we were probably looking ahead and thinking how great it would be . . .
I think we are being robbed. This minute of this hour of this very day has something to offer. It comes to us now and will never come again. If we don’t seize it and behold it and breathe its air, we will have lost it forever.
I will choose this day to love people, to see beauty, to feel pain, to pray. I will take this day as the gift it is, not longing for a different one. I don’t want to die having spent my life longing for what wasn’t mine and completely missing what was. I think these are some of the hardest choices to make. Simply living with gratitude. But I want to be that simple.
Carpe diem. Or, as we intellectuals say, “Have a nice day!” ♥ EZ
I heard a quote once that went something like this:
“I don’t want my tombstone to read ‘I figured this would happen.'”
eternal longing is something we should always have. we do not belong here, and i refuse to accept any now that i am given as permanent. the moment i am content is the moment i die because it is then that i have stopped growing.
love,
luke
Do you think you might be confusing contentment with complacency? Contentment does not preclude growth. Paul said he’d learned to be content in all circumstances, and the particulars he mentioned certainly implied major growth opportunities.
Nobody said you should accept the “now” as “permanent.” But does that mean we can’t accept the “now” as important and meaningful? I’m sorry I made you feel defensive. That was not my goal. For myself, I want to receive this day as a gift and be thankful for what it brings, knowing that the Giver has purpose in it.
I love you. Momzy
I just don’t want to always be looking ahead or beyond and missing the now. My kids accuse me of “living vicariously” through them. But honestly, I’m just interested in what’s going on in their lives! College is an amazing time, and so much happens and changes during those years. But I also believe every season of life has it’s sweetness. So, am I wrong to want to experience it? You tell me. I’m sure you know all the answers. ;o)