Survival isn't good enough, you have to live

You spend every day trying to survive. Trying to get through one more day, one more week, one more month. Spend all your time, eye on the prize, chasing after the proverbial carrot. Next thing you know, you've spent ten years providing, providing for yourself, providing for others.

It all seems very noble at the time, very important. Then one day you wake up and realize it's almost over. You've done things to be proud of and things to be ashamed of, but you also regret all the things you haven't done.

You regret that you never asked that girl or guy out in high school; you regret never taking that vacation, always saying, "Maybe next quarter when things aren't so hectic at the office", or something simple, like test driving the car of your dreams.

Now it's too late. You have grandchildren, high blood pressure, bad hips, or a probation officer refusing to allow you to leave the state. Whatever the reason, what it comes down to is this: it's too late. You blew it. You had your chance and you choked.

Don't be that guy. Don't be the guy who only has stories from the office for his friends and loved ones. Don't be the guy that has a minor stress-induced heart attack at 35. Be the guy with the extraordinary stories. The guy that has an experience that relates to every situation. Take that vacation now, not next quarter. Ask that woman/man out. They could be the one. Want to learn how to ski? Then learn.

There is a fairly good chance that the next day won't be your last. But ask yourself, what is worse, dying before doing the things you've always wanted to do, or living to regret the things you've never done? Any chucklehead can survive, it's instinct. Do what you have to do. But do you have the cojones to live?

You only get one ticket to this carnival called life, and dead men don't regret.

Survive, thrive, and LIVE!

Can I get an a-MEN my brothers!

Thank you, SockMonkey.

You get so caught up in the trivialities of day-to-day life that you forget what is _important_.

And it doesn't have to be an either-or thing. You can support a family, be very happy, and still make time for everything you've always wanted to do. It can work.

Learn how to rock-climb. You've always wanted to, especially after that scene in Mission Impossible 2. Sure, you might not like it, but at least you'll know.

SIt down and read. Pick up that book that all your friends say is such a life-changing experience. Don't put it off till you're 70; you won't have much life left to change. And, sure, it might be a crock of shit, but at least you'll know. You won't be stuck wondering, on your deathbed, if that one book had the answer, if only...

Look UP! Dammit, this is a beautiful, painfully gorgeous world. Watch how the bare branches of sycamores segment the sky in moving patterns. The things we take for granted...

Pack everything up for the weekend, and just GO. No destination, no direction. Get in the car and find somewhere else. Tell your boss you _might_ not be in Monday. Then stop worrying about that shit until Tuesday. Get out of that town, that building, that home, that rut. Go to a different town, open up the phonebook to the restaurants, close your eyes, and pick one.

And take her with you.

Or him. Whatever.

"While we live, let us live." Robert Heinlein