Running with Scissors

There is a fable of a hundred-and-twenty-year-old priest, and how the experts are baffled on how he has grown to such an age. There have been many reporters who have questioned him on how he has lived for so long...then one day, a journalist tracked him down, and sat with him to ask some questions. "How did you live to be the age of a hundred-and-twenty-years?", he asked the priest. The old man replied, "I did not do any drugs, did not imbibe in any alcohol or other aspects that would reduce my life expectancy...I did not chase after women, and religiously kept to myself. It is through these ideologies that has led me to continue living out my years on earth."

The reporter looked at him with incredulity in his eyes. "How have you lived then?", he said. "How can you call that a life when you have never experienced that which makes us human? To know the experience of losing control on a drug, to tasting fermented grapes after picking them from the vine, or more importantly...how can you say you have lived if you have never felt the pleasure of a woman's warm body next to you? How is solitude making your life that much longer and adding that much strength? We are put on this earth to feel these experiences, to know that life is reverberating in our lungs, and that we must understand the fact that we are destined to fail sometimes...it is what makes life worth living. We are all connected somehow, someway, and to deny that energy is to deny life itself."

Then the journalist walked away, much the same as I have countless times before, shaking my head at the ignorant, the uninitiated, and the ones in fear of the greatest gift of all...the gift of life that flows through us all. Here are my thoughts on what makes my life...well, worth living. Here you go, and may you enjoy.

I am only being honest, people, when I say that so many individuals out there have placed barriers and fortresses around themselves. We build walls around our emotions, plug up our thoughts with television and the sorrows of the world, and we do our damnedest to forget the outside aspects of our own lives...but what it comes down to is the fact that we only get one opportunity. One chance to make your image in your own making, to run with the bulls in Spain if that is what you want, to travel and see the world, and live your dreams to their fullest before you punch in your ticket and call it a life.

Until then, it is not a wrap, people, it is not cut and dry, but it is waiting to be made into what you want it to be...so, what are you afraid of? What holds you back from the best years of your life? Is it fear that you may fail? Well, until you begin, you will never know what may actually transpire, right? Until you place one foot in front of the other and see what lies in wait for you, you will only sit and wonder, "What if?" Fantastic thing to say when life is young and full of potential, but horrible when you are on your death bed, and those words fall from your lips...do it and do it now.

So, okay, there are some of you that have set your own stage back in the day, but gave up when it collapsed in on itself. All your plans fell apart when they seemed to be written in stone, and you just do not want to harbor another chance at new dreams...fair enough. But it is not fair to give up, lie down, and play dead, people; it is not fair to yourself. It is not fair to those around you who believe in you, and want to see you succeed in following your dreams. So, okay, life is sometimes too heavy for you then? I hear you, I really do...but it does get better, it really does. Use every new day as an excuse to learn something new, to attempt a new trick, and breathe life into your soul.

So, okay, you are shipwrecked in the ocean of love, and your heart is strewn amongst the remaining tatters that surround you, right? Well, you know what? I know this from my own experience and it has told me that time really does heal all. Grab on to something for dear life and float on...help is on the way. Worried that the good times are not going to last? Open your eyes and realize that they get better with every passing day, so hold a friend's hand...and float on. Need to make a choice in your life direction, but are not sure where to turn? Sit alone with your thoughts, abolish outside distractions, find your answer...and float on.

Listen, they say that it is dangerous to run with scissors, right? But who are they to tell what you can and cannot do? Pick up a pair and see what happens...you might just see that they just do not want you to get hurt, and that they only want what is best for you. In that same second, please realize it is all I want for you too. It is just that I am the one who removed your training wheels, slaps you on the ass, and hopes to God that you may take a tumble or two...and I will be the one smiling through my tears as I watch you pick yourself up, brush off the dust, and continue down the road of life.

Through out it all, no matter how many times you tumble and fall, remember that you only get this one shot at making your dreams a reality. If you shall go forth, and they give way to sadness and defeat, well...you are still breathing and you can can try again, again, and again. Please, for all it is worth, know that the only thing we need to know for this life is that it is the only one you get...this time around, anyway. See what it means to grow old and live through the joys of this age. Until we meet again, people, until we meet again.

"Alright already, we'll all float on. Don't worry, we'll all float on. Even if things end up a bit too heavy, we'll all float on. Alright already, we'll all float on. Don't you worry, we'll all float on. We'll all float on." - Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse