This is Your Life

Thought-provoking lines from a novel I recently finished:

[This] is not something to be gotten through. It is not some
fleeting phase of life - it is your life..

The lines in the book are referring to motherhood, but I think it applies to all areas of life. Too often I find myself thinking, "I just want to get through this," without realizing that "this" is my life. That every part of every day makes up the whole of my life. That life will go by fast enough without me wishing it away.

This is your life...

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken

Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes,
This is your life.
And today is all you've got now.
And today is all you'll ever have.
Don't close your eyes.

This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything that you dreamed
that it would be when the world was younger,
and you had everything to lose?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?

*book quote from "amanda bright @ home" by Danielle Crittenden

*lyrics by Switchfoot "This is Your Life"

Not Really So Bad

It's that time of the year again. Time to pull out the 10 year old winter boots and lament that I didn't buy new ones, again, this year. Time for multi-layers, and doing the shuffle so as not to freeze when filling up the car with gas. Time to get up earlier to allow for snow removal off the car, and the treacherously slow drive to work. Also time for a little tradition of mine. That is, I like to wait until it's at least -20 degrees C and dark out before I find the extension cord for my car. This was not so bad this year, so I thought I'd spice it up a little. Maybe stay out in the cold an extra 10 min or so. I thought I'd be nice and get my roommate's cord out of the shed and bring it down and set it up so that she just has to plug in when she gets home from work tonight. This would be the orange cord. The 30 foot orange cord. The tangled 30 foot orange cord, that I didn't decide to untangle until I was already outside. Thankfully I'd thought ahead and had on that 2nd winter layer of clothing, complete with hood and all. But I'm not really complaining, as I am now nice and warm inside my house, with the Christmas lights turned on, and feeling merry. And with that, Happy Holidays! May you stay safe and warm.

It's the Small Things

Sitting at my computer, writing a poem, listening to jazz music. I close my eyes and pretend to play the saxophone. Hearing footsteps in the hall, I turn and look over to see my roommate pretending to plays drums in the doorway. And that is why we are best friends.