We Lived Our Best Life!

 

I’ve been completely off Facebook for many reasons, the main one being the hatefulness that it has succumbed to. I reinstalled the app to figure out if we needed to boil our water during our winter storm, here in Texas. Nothing new for the most part on Facebook, people blaming either side of the aisle (because we’ve narrowed our choices down to two then you must choose a side and curse the other) in politics, people blaming everyone under the sun for the works of Mother Nature (damn, M.N. you’ve even lost your voice), and of course people mostly finding out that they can, for the most part, survive without electricity (in a Winter Storm), but not wifi/cable! FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS!

*Stepping off soapbox*

Then, I started seeing pictures of families and their sweet children. People I haven’t seen in so long. Things I do miss. You know, the human connection…what we’re built for (you know, unity not division). Seems to defeat the purpose of using a virtual connection to have that human connection feel…it’s not the same. But I am grateful for it at times. I was moving along, catching up with some sweet memories being made. Kids playing in the snow despite no electricity, babies being born, and then seeing that some of my friends have lost loved ones. It wasn’t long before I had ran myself so far down the rabbit hole that I found myself crying.

I came across a man that had passed away. The town I’m from, everyone knew him. My family, friends, friends of the family…he was well known and loved. I had stumbled onto his wife’s page, just looking at sweet photos of their memories. Knowing, that is what she probably sits and looks at quite a bit. I know this from experience. You just want to hang on to those memories, that face, just hold everything in that moment like nothing has changed. Then, I read it…5 words she had written along with a bunch of pictures she shared. 5 words…and I lost it.

“We Lived Our Best Life"

That sums everything up! We lived our best life…to be able to say that about the life you shared with another. It humbled me to my bones. I had no words, just tears. I sat with myself and let the tears flow.

Are we all living our best lives? Are we fully living anymore? Whether it be when we’re alone, with our friends and family, in everyday life…are we truly living our best? Whatever that may be for us…are we doing it? The truth of the matter is, no one knows when our last will be…so are we truly experiencing the sweetness of our lives? All the arguing that goes on. All the waste on devices (the hours of staring at a screen). All the bitterness we’re holding onto. Are we living and savoring the precious moments that turn into our memories? Or are we wasting time…being a puppet to the big world?

*The smell of a burning bonfire.

*Watching a puppy see snow for the first time and running through it like there’s no tomorrow.

*My child and husband laughing, belly laughing.

*The taste of Chicken and Dumplings while it snows outside.

*A hug from a loved one.

These are just a few things I stopped to witness in the last few days. All from my bodily senses. Viewing the world in 3D. How easily it is to forget how incredibly human we are. How we need to feel, taste, touch, see, and smell our lives around us. Mostly, standing still in the moment and witnessing it, in pure bliss. Life is amazing in such simple and powerful moments, moments we often miss because we are in another “world” that really doesn’t matter. Whether you’re alone, or with another…witness the moment. Live your best life!

She said everything any of us ever need to hear…

I’ll take that lesson from you, Mrs. Wood!

At the end of my life, I hope someone says…

“We Lived Our Best Life!”