Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. ~James DeanLife is so brief. Once a moment passes- it's gone. Forever. What are you doing with those moments? Are you investing yourself fully into everything you do? When you are at work, are you giving 100% of everything that you have for that 8 hours every day? Or do you goof off, trying to pass the time? Do you invest yourself fully into all of your relationships? I'm not just talking boyfriend/girlfriend, but I mean do you care about those you encounter daily? That girl you sit by in your history class- she's been looking really sad lately. Do you even know her name? You never know; you two could end up being really good friends, or at least make going to class less of a chore. There are so many opportunities we miss on a daily, minute-to-minute, moment-to-moment basis. And in the span of a moment, it could all be gone.
Last Friday I decided to break from running to swim some laps at the pool. (A lifeguard should be in top swimming shape, right?) When I got there every lane already had two people, so I sat down and messed around with my phone for a minute. I heard a loud bang, looked up, and saw the lifeguard diving into the water. I looked further and saw a girl face down in the water shaking. I grabbed a backboard and started to run over, but saw that another lifeguard-certified guy was already down there, so I dropped it and ran over to help. He pulled her out of the water- she was still having a seizure- and put her on her side. She was unconscious. A woman nearby started to call campus security, and a guy who had been swimming called an ambulance. I figured out who this girl was and called my boss and then residence life so they could call her parents. It was so terrifying. She finally regained consciousness and moved a little bit, but she couldn't really speak. We all just stood around staring at her, unable to do anything for her until the paramedics arrived. They finally did, and took care of her and took her to the hospital. She is completely fine now; it turns out that she was epileptic, and has seizures every once in a while. No big. I had never seen a seizure before, so it was kind of a big deal.
This whole situation got me thinking about my appreciation for- not just life- but everything in life. Many people go through the motions of life without ever fully living. When I look back on my life, I want to be able to say that I sucked out all the possible life that I could have.
At the risk of seeming like I'm just throwing God in here as an afterthought (because I'm really not), how can we possibly live to our fullest without Him? If He created us (which I believe He did) then only He can complete us. I write all of this with only life in light of God in mind.
Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
