Here's to Living

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did. So throw off the bow lines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Live. - Mark Twain

When I was 18 or so, I made a list entitled "20 Things to do Before I'm 20. http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=2218745955. On the list are things such as 1) go out of the country and 9) lay on a blanket on a rooftop and watch the stars and 11) run a marathon and 17) ride a jetski and even 20) take a salsa dancing class. Looking at that list now, and almost 21 years old, I can regretfully say that the only things I have successfully accomplished on that list are numbers 19)paint my nails black, 15)wear green eyeliner. and 16)read a classic. I was inspired by A Walk to Remember to write the list of 20 things. Fortunately, I'm not dying of cancer...but unfortunately, I have not even succeeded at even number 14)dance in the rain without an umbrella.

I preface today's post with that because lately I have been feeling impulsive. With my 21st birthday coming up, as ridiculous as it sounds, I have been assessing my life ...and feeling...old. I have always lived life rather cautiously...following the rules. I've never been arrested, I have gotten only 2 traffic tickets, I've never experimented with drugs, or stolen. Not that those are necessarily things that I want to do... but nevertheless, sometimes I think that there is more to life than following the rules. "Rule are meant to be broken," and in a sense, I think they really were. As long as you are not harming another person, harming yourself, or otherwise doing something that could land you in prison for an extended period of time, I think that it's okay to break a rule every now and then; I think it's okay to let your impulses guide you every now and then. I have been trying to do that more often.

I used to be the kind of person who, in any given situation, would weigh the pros and cons of a particular action until finally coming to my decision...which would most likely be to decline aforementioned situation. Though having good judgement is key to good character, it is also key to live fully. love fully. listen to your heart. act on your desires. have fun. life is short. I'm only beginning to realize that life truly is short. There will never be another day like today ever in your life. The time I'm wasting sitting at this computer will never be able to be my time again. The time spent reading this silly post will never be yours again.

I love writing. I have always enjoyed it. Words alive on paper, entangling in each other to form a perfect prose...it's the only thing I have ever truly had a knack for. I have always wanted to publish something and according to my list of 20 things, I should have already done it.

Here's to living. Because impulses are okay sometimes.