Are you truly living or merely existing?
Almost a year ago, I gave myself a challenge to find my answer to that question. And a challenge to write more than once for the year.
I guess the latter was a bit harder to accomplish – what with all the juggling a striving young professional has to deal with these days. Then again, I might just be full of excuses. Writing requires time and discipline. And I shamelessly lack both. Wink, wink. Anyway, my ramblings on the creative process of writing belong to a different post, which has been sitting idly on my laptop for quite some time. I will go back to that soon. But for now, the challenge I set for myself is begging for an answer.
What does it take to live? What does it take to exist? To exist is to eat, to breathe, to clothe oneself, and to do everything that enables one to physically survive. To live, however, is to go beyond this mere existence.
To live is to love, to pursue your greatest passions, to read a book, to write, to laugh out loud, to travel and see the marvels of the world, to learn new things, to take risks, to conquer fears, to experience the full spectrum of human emotions, and the list goes on.
I have to admit, existing is so much easier than living. But what kind of life would that be? I only have one shot at this life, and I don’t even know how long I’ll live, so I gotta KICK.ASS.AT.THIS!
2012 brings another 366 days of as yet unknown struggles, joys, challenges, and rewards. But even before all those come around, the beginning of the year gives us a chance to define for ourselves the kind of life we truly want to live. For me, right now, that’s all that matters.
So 2012, bring it on. Happy New Year, everyone. La vita e bella.
