Using My Time

Have you ever been so inspired and moved by something, that it simply leaks from every fiber of your being?  You have been so changed and touched, that you just have to share?

A year ago, I embarked on a journey that has forever changed me.  Looking back, I don’t even recognize the me from a year ago.  As a writer, words are my lifeline. Sometimes writing is the only way I can adequately express myself.

Flannery O’Connor  said it best, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”

Simply put, sometimes writing is the only way I can understand myself what I am feeling.

I love to share my journey.  I want people to see that if a bitter, hate-filled, uninspired soul such as myself, can finally find her Center of happiness, they can too.  Isn’t that what we are all here for? To help and inspire each other?

This past weekend, I accomplished something that a year ago seemed impossible, I hiked my 500th mile in the Great Smoky Mountains.  I was on track to have accomplished that in less than a year, but due to a serious injury, I had to stop hiking for 3 months and let my foot recover from the abuse I had put it through.  But at the first of the year I picked it back up, and this weekend, exactly one year later from the start of the journey….. I DID it!

While some may not understand, the emotions were raw and very powerful.  I am not an athlete, I hate pain, I detest having to struggle, but somehow, I accomplished something so big in a short amount of time.

Of course I shared my news.  I am stinking proud of myself! Why wouldn’t I share?

But there has to be a negative Nancy in every crowd.  Just in random conversation yesterday, someone made the comment, “We get it! You hiked 500 miles!” The comment was NOT to be intentionally ugly, but it did dampen my spirit just a bit.

Yes, I do post a lot on Social media and Blog even more about my journey.  Yep, I take more selfies than is probably reasonable, but you know what?

Life is too short to sit at home and see what others are doing.  I want to be out living life.  FULLY.

So yes, I am going to take silly selfies to document what I did.  I am going to continue to write and post about my experiences living life on this incredible journey.

Why?

Because I want to do more then just merely exist.

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist.” ∼ Oscar Wilde

Life is short.

Real short.

God placed us here to live, explore, and love. I am a firm believer, that He also wants us to share and inspire others to live  fully.  We weren’t created to sit at home and watch TV all day, flipping through Facebook or Twitter watching what everyone else is doing.  If that were the case you would not have been born with feet, hands, a smile, and a a spirit of adventure.

So much of my time as been wasted worrying about what others thought.  Do they think I am too silly? Am I too vain?  Have I said too much?  Did I look ridiculous?

But no more.  My life is not lived to please others.  My life is lived to celebrate the fact that I am ALIVE, and that the only one I am here to please is  the ONE who gave me this life. God did not create me to sit and watch others live.  He created me to explore the world He created and enjoy it from MY point of view….not someone else’s.

Because of sharing and writing about my journey, so many have began their own journey. No longer do they sit and watch others live….they are out there doing their living themselves. Along the way  I have also met so many who have inspired and walked along with me.  Together we inspire and encourage each other.

This is what it is all about.

So to my friend, who seemed just a little irritated about all my posting, I leave you with this.

“I would rather be ashes than dust.
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze,
than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
Jack London

Don’t just exist. Live.  Use your time!