I am so sorry for having not added much to the blog in the past month. I am in the midst of a heavy summer-semester load at college and I really haven't had much time to sit and formulate any thoughts that hit home for me.
I have been in reflection upon my life recently as my wife and I passed our 11 year anniversary. I had to write a paper based on a poem and when the professor brought the papers back he said they were crap and lacked passion. He said that if we live our lives without passion, like we wrote our papers he'd hate to be married to us. It got me thinking, and re-writing my paper.
We need to live our lives with passion! Here are a few excerpts from my paper based on thoughts from the poem, "When Death Comes", by Mary Oliver:
When facing my end, I want to know my life was full of fervor for friendship, passion for family, and vehemence for life’s experiences. If you are going to live, then make your life worth living. Don’t just suck in oxygen just to spew your greenhouse gas-emitting carbon dioxide with each exhale. Breathe our world into oblivion with zest and purpose! Love with everything that you are and let the exhilaration of each breath permeate all that you do.
I don't want to stop living this life as I want to again share in the wonders of the dancing Northern Lights and the sting of arctic temperatures burning in my nose. I want to kiss my wife again for the very first time and give my daughter her last hug at night for every night to come. I want to hear my father’s story one more time than the countless times he’s shared it. Just once more, I want jump into that frigid pond on a dare, to feel the ice-cold shock coursing through my body like lightning through a copper rod.
I want to live my life to the fullest potential and enjoyment. At the end of my life I don't want to have any doubt of my mark in history and time, or whether or not my life was particular. My life will not be just a visitation, but a fulfillment of longing for love and a great depth of friendship and pursuit of knowing my God.
I hope that as you read this, you can reflect upon your own life and see if you have lived it to your fullest of potential and with great passion. If the answer is no, maybe it's time to start.
