Why Suffer When You Can Have It All?

Suffering ensues when life becomes a version of a story, we have never told ourselves. You don't reach the milestones you thought you would, things don't become what you imagined, or the future doesn't pan out the way you planned. This heartbreak comes from holding on to a storyline that is no longer plausible. Our mind constantly leaps to the past to try and reconcile what once was and skips to the future to plan for our dreams, but we often forget that none of that matters in the now. In the present moment where we are actually living and existing, none of those ideals matter at this moment. Nothing matters but now.

When we think about life, we can get sucked into the idea that we have SO much time. We begin to second guess ourselves and worry about the outcomes of every small decision. But for people in the United States, the average age is about 76. That's 76 summers, 76 falls, 76 winters, 76 springs, and 76 birthdays. When we look at time like this, it's not a lot. You have roughly 76 years to do everything and anything you've ever wanted to do. When we are able to see time as a scarcity, we are finally able to see things for what they are. The superficial purchases, the mundane friendships, the life we have conformed to for comfort, none of it matters when you realize you are living on borrowed time. This isn't to say drop everything and go out and live in the woods because we all are going to die (though we are), it's to say that SO many things that occupy our daily lives don't matter in the grand scheme of things. As humans, it's natural to have anxiety and fears, but what if we stopped letting fear lead the way and instead just lived?

Life is precious and short, so stop spending your days reliving the past or focusing on the future. Instead become a seeker. Seek out everything life has to offer. Love freely and more often. Jump at the opportunities when they arise. Treasure the moments as they come because they are the only thing we have until we are gone. So don't force yourself into years of suffering simply because things did not go as planned. This is the only life you have, and as unpredictable as it may be, you have to cherish the time while you still have it.

So live big, live loudly, and live unapologetically. You only have one life, so live it fully.