“No,
we don’t need more sleep. It’s our souls that are tired, not our bodies. We
need nature, we need magic, we need adventure, we need freedom, we need truth,
we need stillness. We don’t need more
sleep, we need to wake up and live.” ~ Mermaid Musings
Still
meditating on the amazing words spoken by Navy Seal Admiral McRaven in his
commencement speech to the graduating class of 2014, inspiring us to make our
beds as a first step to changing our world, this beautiful saying by Mermaid
Musings compliments it well. I agree, we
don’t need more sleep, we need to wake up and live. Wow – that hits right into
the center of my soul.
I
sleep when I’m depressed, when I’m emotionally tired and worn out, when I’m
feeling hopeless and afraid. When I’m
not wanting to deal with the stresses and pain of this world, I long to sleep
and slip off into a land of fantasy and hope and magic. There’s nothing wrong
with that, and perhaps at times in our life we need it, but not for too long,
not for too often, and not as a way to avoid living our lives.
Life
is hard, but it’s also good. It’s tough,
always, but so are we. I have a friend
who is a Navy Seal and he says that the easiest day was yesterday. That is so true. I’m not looking for easy, I’m hoping to find
an inner strength inside that gives me the strength to conquer each day. I start that by making my bed every morning,
making and completing small goals throughout the day, working toward bigger
goals for the week, the month, the year and the rest of my life.
Making
goals and chasing them – that’s living.
Living isn’t dreaming – but chasing the dream. Living is feeling everything – the good, the
bad, the happy, the sexy, the heartache, the joy, the love, the pain, the
rejection, the failure, and the success. I try not to deny any of it, because
all those feelings and experiences make me who I am.
I
don’t want to sleep my life away. I don’t want to miss an opportunity, an
experience, or a moment because of fear or being too lazy to care. Life is messy. It’s hard. None of us are
perfect, but we are perfectly imperfect.
I’ve been through hell and have endured unimaginable horrors, but I
survived and I overcame. I love in spite
of hate. I care in spite of indifference. I hope in spite of failure. I keep
loving in spite of rejection.
We
get one life. One. I’ve been here
forty-seven years and my tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. I don’t want to put off
tomorrow what I can experience today. I don’t want to put my life on hold,
hide, or sleep away biding my time until magic happens, because it never
will. The only magic we get in our lives
is the magic we make, we pursue, and we imagine as we are living. Not every day is going to be a good day, but
I want to be alive in the midst of them.
I’ve
lost so many people in my life that are not here anymore or not part of my life
anymore – and loss hurts. Change hurts.
Love hurts. But, I’d rather hurt that
not feel anything. Because if I don’t feel the pain, I also don’t feel the love
or the joy. I want to feel it all.
I’m
in the beginning stages of falling in love right now. I’ve met a wonderful man
who I admire and he inspires me so much every day to live. I can’t guarantee our future, or if he will
even be a part of it, but I’m open to see what happens and go where this path
may lead. I’ve met some great new
friends who make my soul happy, who encourage me not by their words, but
because they’re busy living their lives and pursuing their passions. I love
people who are chasing their desires, setting goals for themselves, and doing
what they love. I’d rather be with
someone who has nothing and struggling to achieve something, than be around
someone who has everything but lack vision or a goal. I love the dreamers and the visionaries, and
people that are not afraid to risk their hearts. I’ve missed that so much in life.
No,
we don’t need more sleep – we need to wake up and live!
Till
next time,
~T.L.
Gray
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