February 18, 2011

"LIVE YOUR LIFE INSTEAD OF MERELY EXISTING!"

As I was racking my brain trying to think of something to write about for today, an event that happened several months ago popped into my head. It was during a spat with a family member, and the person asked me why we have not visited them recently. You would think that such a question would not even need to be asked considering the hell my family has walked through in the past year. I am really sorry if my family has been a little preoccupied with other things, such as chemotherapy and radiation treatments which consisted of driving back and forth to the hospital which was located 75 miles away from our home which resulted in us driving 150 miles roundtrip on a daily basis Monday through Friday for six consecutive weeks. Not to mention, once my husband's treatments ended, he started back to work full-time right away. By the time he gets home in the evening after working eight to 10 hours each day, it is pretty safe to say that after dinner the last thing my husband wants to think about is having to go back out to entertain family with a visit. Some evenings, my husband falls asleep on the recliner minutes after eating a small meal.

But back to the topic of today. You are probably wondering how my little story above relates to living your life instead of merely existing. Well, during this little family squabble, I tried to explain to this family member that we (meaning my family) does not visit anyone unless we are invited to their homes. My family member looked at me and said, "Well, that must a lonely existence." And this is how I came up with today's topic. Live your life instead of merely existing.

Now from an outsider's point of view, my family's life may look like a lonely form of existence. However, my family has been through so much in the past year that we cherish each other's company. We love to spend time with each other. We are so grateful that my husband is still here with us on this planet that we no longer take any moment for granted. We are not lonely in each other's company! Each day when we are separated through school and work, we look forward to that time when we are all back at home in the evenings in order to be near each other, to laugh together, and to spend time with each other.

My family member may live a lonely existence without the presence of outsiders in her life. However, my family is very content with each other in the confines of our home. We love each other dearly, and we do not need anyone's approval to live a happy, joy-filled life. We are living our lives to the fullest everyday, and we are doing more than just existing. Live your life to the fullest, and do more than just existing!