It’s that simple.
I used to think life was hard. Like really hard. And when it felt easy, I felt anxious, like something bad was waiting for me around the corner because life wasn’t supposed to be this good. Life was supposed to be ruthless and unfair. And it totally is sometimes. The funny thing is, the period I stressed the most was probably when my life was the easiest. I just didn’t have much life experience to compare it to. I had barely any perspective. I used to worry about the smallest things when there was nothing to worry about to begin with. I still do it from time to time. I think it’s human nature. I hold myself back from reaching my full potential out of fear. For no reason at all I worry that I shouldn’t be doing something that makes me happy. I worry about booking a trip and getting sick the day I’m supposed to fly out because that’s life. I worry about quitting my job and going back to school because I might waste money and realize it doesn’t bring me joy, but again that’s life. But what’s worse than all of that is staying comfortable, living out the same, mediocre reality day after day after day and not growing, not learning and not taking leaps of faith because you might not land on your feet. A lot of people want to go on an adventure, they want to quit their job and move across the country, they want to live their life but because of fear, they end up uncomfortably, comfortable. When an opportunity presents itself, you owe it to your future self to take it. If we could just see how simple life really is.
The last twenty-five Years have taught me a lot but way, way up there, on my long list of lessons, there’s a really important one.
Life is short and as far as we know, it only comes around once.
I’ll say it one more time… louder… for the people in the back…
LIFE IS SHORT!!
You hear it growing up and you kind of understand it, but you really don’t. Not until you move back down to Florida with your dad and brother and 2 months later your mom and sister come to visit. Everyone is helping make dinner, Grateful Dead is playing in the background and your dad is drumming on every pot, pan and countertop. Your mom and sister are dancing and your brother is the only one really focused on seasoning everything to perfection. Even the dogs are at your feet, hoping someone drops something. You pause to soak it all in. It feels so good. It feels like home, like your childhood. But it’s different. It’s not your first home and you’re not a child anymore. This time you appreciate it because you realize it’s not going to last forever.
It’s not until you’re in Paris, staring at the Eiffel Tower really hard, soaking in your last ten seconds of being physically in the presence of somewhere most people only dream of being. You’ve seen it all over town for the last week but this time it’s really hard to look away because you don’t know when you’ll be back. There’s so many places you want to see before you die.
It’s not until you lose a best friend. Someone that you shared so many memories with and now the last of those moments reside with only you. You made plans for the future and for some reason, way beyond our realm of understanding, they won’t be around to see them through. It doesn’t make sense and your heart really breaks. I mean it physically hurts. But it reminds you that life is short.
If life weren’t short it wouldn’t be as amazing. It just wouldn’t. It’s the realization that nothing lasts forever that makes it so much more exciting. And the bad things that happen, they shape your perspective. They live in the back of your mind as reminders to enjoy the good when it comes because the good never stays forever. They make the good in life, better. Think about it. If you knew you had the rest of your life to visit Europe, it wouldn’t be as special. If you had the rest of your life to eat dinner with your grandparents, you would put it off. But when you promise someone you’ll take them fishing because that was their lifelong dream and you put it off for a few weeks, and then weeks turn into months because work picked up and then suddenly they fall and hit their head and within 48 hours you’re saying your last goodbye, you learn the hard way that it’s okay to take a day off work. It’s okay to say no to a shift or a project. Because in the grand scheme of life, it doesn’t really matter how much money you have, how big your house is or what tax bracket you fall into. What matters is how you treat people, how you make people feel, how you make yourself feel. What matters is what you learned along the way that you can share with your children and your children’s children. What matters is that your life matters. Did you do things that you’re proud of? Can you look back and say that you loved, that you laughed, that you got the most out of your life that you possibly could and you didn’t take it for granted. I think the younger version of me could see me now, and all that I’ve accomplished, all the fears I’ve faced, all of the places I’ve been and friends I’ve made- that she would be proud. And it’s all for her really. ❤️
There’s usually only one thing that stops people from taking that life-changing trip or making that life-altering move and that’s themselves. If your job doesn’t pay you enough to save up, get a second job. If you’re scared to go alone, find a friend to join you or make friends with someone who travels a lot OR you could even just face your fear and go alone (I highly recommend the latter 😉 ). If you get on social media and you’re depressed because you follow travel pages of places you’ll never go to or models with bodies you’ll never have then don’t unfollow them. Don’t settle for a mediocre life. LEVEL UP. You have complete control of your happiness. I guess what I’m trying to say in more words than I hoped for is that life isn’t supposed to be so hard. It’s really simple when you take a step back and look at the big picture. Nine times out of ten it’s only you that gets in the way of yourself. Life can be SO SO GOOD if you just let it. Don’t sweat the small stuff because in the end it’s just that. Small. Insignificant.
So, relish in the fleeting moments that feel like home. Take a day off work to spend with people that matter. Dance like nobody’s watching in a bar full of people. And if you want to go on the trip, go.
Sammy Vonn 