To Live...

Sometimes I think I get too caught up in the moment.

I get too stressed with school, responsibilities, the future... that I forget about the big picture.

I forget just how blessed my life is. How blessed I am to have the opportunity to know who I know.

To have the friends and family that I have, the opportunities given to me. I could go on & on.

As important as being responsible and getting things done is, I think it is just as important

to look at the big picture and understand your life as a whole.

We may stress about jobs, majors, money, etc. But this life wasn't meant for us to suffer from worry.

There are things that we can control, and things out of our control.

I think that enjoying your life and actually living it is just as important as the normal responsibilities.

How sad would it be to one day look back and think, 

"I wish I would have laughed more, spent more time with the ones I love, taken that vacation I've always dreamed of, spending the couple extra dollars on that dessert I really wanted at that restaurant, spent more time growing as a person spiritually, individually... helping others with even the most simple tasks."

Even though sometimes I get so caught up in stress and worries, there are always things to bring my mind back to what is most important.

For example, after my Stats class today, I stopped to use the restroom. As I closed the stall door, I saw that someone had left a note saying, "Show your smile, because it's beautiful."

Now, as cheesy as that is, it could have changed someone's day.

Someone else wrote below it on the same paper, "Thank you. I needed that."

Someone actually took the time to respond to the note with a "thank you", and the odds of the person who wrote that note in the first place is extremely slim

.

It's the simple things in life that really are the most precious.

It's the simple things that make us not just routine-based creatures.

Instead of just going through the motions of life, the small things are what make us live it.

Tonight, I got in the jacuzzi with Madison, his roommate Dustin, and my roommate Lauren.

It started to lightly rain and the wind was slightly blowing, and I decided to get my hair wet.

(That may sound weird that I would even mention that, 

but you have to understand I never get my hair wet in public spas, so it was a rare thing for me).

I just decided to not worry about anything, and completely relax. 

All of us sat and talked and enjoyed the weather. Light rain is the perfect jacuzzi weather, in my opinion.

We had the pool area to ourselves, and that never happens either, so I was enjoying every minute of it.

Then these 3 guys walked through the gate and got in, but never said a word.

I then saw them start to sign to one another and I suddenly got really excited.

You see, I never get to use my knowledge of sign language anymore, and it makes me sad.

I love sign language, and I wish I had the opportunity to sign more.

Madison told me to talk to them, but I got a little nervous. I haven't signed in almost a year.

But I got myself to do it, and it was so nice.

I surprised myself with how much I actually remembered, which was a lot.

I then became the translator in the hot tub between everyone. 3 deaf guys, and a group of hearing friends.

We had about a 25-30 minute conversation and just enjoyed the company, and I felt this sense of peace.

We said goodbye and went our own ways, but that small experience just made me think...

This life is full of so many small experiences and details that we just overlook.

I hope I become more aware of these throughout my life, because I think that if I were to really remember and take in those moments, this life is going to be even better than I had expected.

Peter Pan said it best... To live would be an awfully big adventure.