Life is not a comma

“Every stage of life is the right one, including the stage I’m in.” ~ Younger By the Day, Jan. 29

Those words resonated within me as I read them yesterday. They led to a stunning realization: I am living my life as if this time is a comma. The comma between having kids and having grandchildren. The comma between one job and the next. The comma between what I HAVE to do and what I WANT to do. The comma between unfit and fit. The comma between hating my body and loving my body.

What a mistake. I frequently caution others that “life is too short…” or to “do what will feed your soul”. Those phrases do not sound like the advice of a woman who is “on hold”. These days of transition are like the days leading up to Christmas. They can be days of delicious anticipation. Why choose to have them only serve as blocks on the calendar to mark off before opening the big gift box full of “my real life” on a certain day?

This is my “real” life. Today is not just a stepping stone to tomorrow; it is TODAY. So…how to put the Carpe into Diem?

Right off the top of my head these things come to mind:

1. Stop the madness! To-do lists and electronic calendars are great things, but I either need to stray away from my programmed life more, or I need to enter fun and freedom onto the list!
2. Make it extraordinary. As I reflected on what makes vacations and holidays special, I realized that they usually involve some ritual or tradition that signal its specialness. I need to create rituals or traditions that signal that today is worthy of notice. For a start, I will return to daily journaling. Reflecting on my life, and that day, is a great way to reinforce that I am living not waiting.
3. Owe myself one mental snapshot everyday. There are times that something of such tenderness or physical beauty stops me in my tracks momentarily and I take a “memory shot” so that I will not lose the image. If I commit to looking for those images, instead of waiting for kismet, I believe that I will be able to find at least one everyday. Part of living in a comma is that I am non-observant as I go about my routine. By searching out today’s mental snapshot I will be more aware of where I am, who is around me, and how I fit into that place.
4. Savor something everyday. It is good to learn that food is fuel rather than _____________ (fill in the blank with the word of choice: comfort, entertainment, celebration, balm, love, rebellion). However, that knowledge doesn’t mean that I should not savor what I consume. Savoring can be as simple as paying attention to the rich smell of my morning coffee, bathing my tongue in the smoothness of an evening cup of tea, or discerning the flavors of that first bite of a meal. Savoring is a period, not a comma. Maybe even an exclamation point sometimes (tiramisu in Rome comes to mind as an exclamation point experience). Savor.
5. Say thanks. Living life as a comma means that I am not grateful for the gift of today. Oh, it is so frustrating when someone tosses aside a gift from me as though it wasn’t worthy of attention. I am doing that to the Father God that gave me today. By opening each day with a statement of thanks I acknowledge His love, and open the door to saying a multitude of thank-you’s during the remainder of the day. Thank you to those who give me the memory shot, those who help me to savor the moment, even the one who reminds me not to behave in a certain way. They are all reminders that the messiness of today is a gift.

My life is not a comma! Carpe Diem!