Mountain view

As I sit in my chair this morning allowing my brain to splash ideas for this blog on the screen, I begin to think about why we go through life as wandering generalities never stopping to smell the proverbial roses. We are so conditioned by a set of norms that we have lost our peripheral vision of life altogether. We miss the beauty of simplicity because we have become to desensitized by complexity. Life has become for many like a drug, it has to have thrills that exploits are fantasy mind but reduces our overall love of self.

I believe in the power of imagination, I believe in escaping into a fantasy world, I do not however believe in using either to the point we lose our feelings for life, love, and humanity. That, similar to becoming an addict can happen subtly. It is like the fine line between love and hate, or the even finer line between real and fake.

Life as I see it, and using wisdom from the thousands of people that have written to me with terminal cancer, has to be lived with a certain vigor for it to have lasting meaning. We get so caught up in our routines that we lose sight of the fact that we even exist. Next thing you know years have past us by or disease has taken it's toll. I often say that life is for the living, but I should say that living creates life. One of the greatest tragedies in our world today is a life that was never lived. You wonder why or how this can even happen. The truth lies in what we accept in our lives. We spend more time trying to find ourselves when we should be creating ourselves.

We can find and even utilize every excuse under the sun as to why we choose not to live. Some of the excuses even sound good when you put a little emotion into it. The reality is, that no matter where we are in life we can start living. I think in my simple little world a great starting point is learning to love yourself. Sure, I say that in nearly every blog I write but it is a powerful phenomenon when we start loving the only life we have. Forget yesterday because you can't impact it at all, but do have concern for tomorrow and the only way to do that is to LIVE today.

Consider this silly analogy, for months you look forward to this vacation to the mountains that you have saved for. You looked at all the awesome pictures on the internet, read the breath taking captions, and your heart gets to pumping at the shear thought that soon your hard work will provide you the wonderful trip you have dreamed of. As the day for embarkation nears you start packing everything you could possibly need. Finally the day arrives and you check your list, car has gas, got the oil changed, dogs are boarded, snacks are packed, bags are in the trunk, READY TO GO.

The thrill is beginning as you set sail on your dream vacation. The miles and hours fly by as your imagination runs wild with all you are going to do and see. BUT something interesting starts to happen. Slowly your mind transforms into this well conditioned zombie and you start feeling guilty about the money you are spending. I mean the house does need a new roof and your company has threatened a lay off due to a slow down in orders.

As the mountain range comes into view you find the courage to push those feelings aside. The amazing beauty of the snow capped mountains is almost as powerful as your fantasy. As you begin to get closer and the trees, flowers, and streams take shape you are in awe of God's incredible creation. Finally as you ascend the mountain heading toward your cabin you make the decision to turn around and go home. Never stopping to smell the roses, never wading in the stream, and never even feeling the exuberance of the fresh air.

So it is with life, we dream, we imagine, we plan, we set out, but we turn around and go back to the comfort of our tombs. As I use all to often I recall still the last line in the story of Lazarus when Jesus so passionately looks at the crowd and says "unbind that man". Friends life is short and gets shorter by the day, it is time we unbind ourselves from guilty feelings of yesterday and live our life today. The mountains, flowers, trees, and streams of life are given to us to enjoy. Not from the encapsulated safety of our car, but rather to be experienced. Do not wait for the years to rob you of your dreams or disease to take away your ability. Find the hope and strength now to live your greatest life ever. Your potential is yearning to get out so unbind yourself and enjoy the view on the ride up.  

peace to you
Dale