Still Alive

Is there any way of knowing exactly what one is capable of?  We know best what we can do when the buiding is crashing down, the bear charging, the end too near. 

We live holding back--yes, it's true.  The human body never completely expells all its air.  One third of a person's lungs is never emptied as a precaution for the event that there would be no filling it at the next breath.*

We live in wait of a moment that may never come.

But how do we push past this containment?  How do we arrive at a place where everything is all out, all or nothing?  How do we live in such a manner?

It is foolish to be always waiting in terror of what may never come.  And it is even more foolish to live in terror of what is guaranteed to come.

I do not think that life without morals is a good thing: indeed, quite the opposite.  We do ourselves more favors by walking the line, keeping to the rules.

But what good does it do to simply hold this glass we have been given, be it half empty or full?

Ride motorcycles in spite of the risk factor: it's freeing.**

Make frienships, even though friends (especially the close ones) will cause hurts: it's a good way to learn empathy and feel happiness.***

Attempt the things that you look at and say, "I would like to try that."  Why?  Because those are the things that make life brighter.+

Live adventurously.  Not stupidly, as they are different things and stupidity could get you killed.  But adventurously.


*I learned this in my high school choir class.  And who says you never learn anything in high school?^

^ . . . . Yes, I have said this.  Don't mock me. 

**This is true, very true.  Motorcycles are delicious: like riding a horse only faster.  :)

***This is true of falling in love, too.  Your beloved will hurt you, despite what the world thinks^, and you will have to learn forgiveness or join the growing divorce rate. 

^The world is wrong about love for many reasons. Love is not an emotion: it is acted out through wishing the best for someone else.  Furthermore, it is wrong about how it happens. Falling in love rarely happens gracefully.  It's less like a supermodel on the runway and more like said supermodel on black ice.# 

#There will be snags, slips, and many nigh breaks, but hopefully it all comes out all right.

+I, your humble nerdy blogger friend, am currently playing rugby^ and taking glass-blowing^^ in the spirit of this idea. 

^They call this the gentleman's game, which quite honestly doesn't make sense to me yet.  Clawing a downed person with cleats and ball-snatching are quite acceptable, so you might understand my confusion.

^^This is one of the more delightful things I have ever done.  The glass comes out of the kiln like honey, except unlike honey it stiffens up into great glorious things# that can be kept indefinitely.

#I am not yet making great glorious things.  I am making paperweights, which are the training grid to making great glorious things.  Despite their ingloriousness, they are fun and exciting.