I was riding my bicycle on Williams in NE Portland on my way to a coffee shop on Alberta. Portland is beginning to reach 90-degree weather and as I raced through the heat during the 5:00 bicycle rush I enjoyed feeling the warm breeze on my body and through my hair. A pedestrian made eye contact with me while he drew in a deep breath, smiled at me and continued crossing the street. Along the way, I was thinking about a good friend who recently passed away and about how young my friend was. In this moment it all set in, life is short and we need to draw deep, awakening breath into our lungs and exhale action, passion and life.
As I write this to you today I am lucky to be alive, sitting here enjoying a cold beer and having a personal toast to my friend and his life that has inspired me through the years. I extend my toast to you as well, whoever you are and wherever you are in your life, wake up!
Wake up because life does not owe you another day.
People make excuses to one another as if they owe an explanation to everyone in their life about why they are not truly living. It is never the right time. There is never enough money. There is fear of change and fear of commitments or too much reliance on other people. Constantly promising yourself you will live tomorrow.
Wake up! You are only hurting yourself by not taking action. You are the only thing in the way of learning to experience real life. You are the only one in the way of learning to accept your failures. You are the only one capable of turning your talk into action.
From deep within yourself I urge you to feel the rustling that is the realization that you have been hibernating. Caught in the monotony of bills, schedules, assumptions, false obligation and self-imposed lack of freedom.
Wake up! You owe it to yourself to learn to see. Open yourself up to the variety of sensations you can experience when you see colors. Allow yourself to recognize the beautiful differences between you and others in the world around you. Learn the skill of connecting with other people in the world, open yourself up to touch.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone until you feel content there and then push yourself out again. Stop placing limitations on your ability because things are hard, instead recognize the trial and walk until you succeed. Allow yourself to fail. Jump at opportunities that speak to you before you tell yourself you cannot do it. Do not allow others in your life to stop you from doing or being anything that is purely you. Explore new places on your own. Explore new places with people you love. Talk to strangers. It is time to awaken yourself, right here and now. No one else can do it for you. It is time to grow, to feel, to love and to live.
