We should all strive to live life alive

Published 10:43 am Thursday, May 10, 2018

We all have “our days,” or moments in time when life gets overwhelming and we find ourselves fighting the urge to walk out the door, hit the open road, and never come back.

For me, this week was no exception.

Sometimes, I think that we have a predisposition this way as humans. The moment one part of our lives starts to improve, we tend to go a few days basking in the glory of how blessed we are until not after long we find something new to grumble about. It’s either the car or the house, the kids or the pets, busy schedules and heavy workloads, the feeling of being run-down and never having enough time. As soon as we finally figure one problem out, another is hot on our heels and we find ourselves wanting to shout something like “I quit” at the tops of our lungs.

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Quit what? For most of us, I don’t think we really know. But it sure feels good to say it and allows us to let off steam and release some of the bent up pressure that has been building for far too long.

Having finally worked through many issues plaguing my life the last few years, it wasn’t long the past few weeks before I found myself frustrated as I struggled to stand my ground on the way I thought and believed things should be with another issue.

Finally coming to a slight realization of the way things really were, I found myself alone in my thoughts and in my car flying down an open road. Windows down and music blaring, my very own personal kind of therapy besides writing, I attempted to work through the thoughts in my mind until it hit me while listening to one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists.

Bon Jovi sure got it right when he sang the line in his chart-topping classic, “It’s my Life.” For I think I can speak for most of us when I say if ever asked you what you wanted out of life, the answer would be, “I just want to live while I’m alive.”

My one wish for my children would be for them to find what makes them feel alive in life and never stop doing it. For when everything is said and done, long after I’m old and gray, I will hope I lived my life the same way. My hope is that I can sit with not only my own children, but my grandchildren and great-grandchildren telling them stories of how my life didn’t always turn out the way I thought and planned, but even through it all I made sure I lived a life that made me feel alive and I hope they do the same.

As I wrestled with decisions I realized the answer was easy. Although not entirely the way I had envisioned things, and maybe not a reality I wanted to face, I have been fortunate to live a life where I was doing what made me feel alive.

I have struggled, I have sacrificed, and through it all I have built a life I dared to only dream about as a little girl.

I’ve married my best friend I’ve known since we were 11, bought the dream house, had the beautiful children, and secured a job I had only fantasized about as a child when I would sit and watch classics such as “All the President’s Men,” “Up Close and Personal,” “The Way We Were,” or the very old and dear to my heart “His Girl Friday.”

I am fortunate to live in a house that looks like it belongs in a Norman Rockwell painting. My children are healthy and truly my biggest blessing lighting up my each and every day. And even after all of that, I am fortunate to work a career that makes me feel alive.

What more can you ask for?

As I finally found my grasp and started the process of finding peace with my newly found frustrations, I understood that even though I felt slightly jaded by the truth I uncovered, I was living my life alive. And when everything else fails, when my time on earth is done, that is and will always be the most important thing.

As my wish for my children, I hope you all are just as fortunate to live your life alive.

Brittany Fuller is the community editor of The Jessamine Journal and Jessamine Life magazine. She can be reached at brittany.fuller@jessaminejournal.com.