I've had this feeling once before. I was thinking how Fall weather is so beautiful and I wanted to go to coffee shops downtown and enjoy them and listen to great music at them and write honest blog posts at them. Then it clicked.
I can be that person.
All too often we envision our lives to be something better than they currently are. I dream of mine to be inspiring, insanely creative, adventurous, and powerful.
A little over a week ago I watched this TED Talk and once again, it clicked.
It's about a guy named Dan Eldon who essentially was a humanitarian in Africa throughout his teenage years, became a photojournalist and was murdered while photographing a bombing in Somalia at the young age of 22. 22!!!!! That is how old I am. Man, it was just so crazy to see someone SO young who had done SOOO much with his life to help the world. It made me think "What in the world am I waiting for?!" When is the future ever going to be the present? When are my hopes and dreams for my life going to become reality?! It all clicked.
I can be that person.
It has always been a desire of mine to go on a mission trip, but I never thought it was something that me, katie hayes, would be able to handle. I mean, if anyone loves the comforts of America, it's me. I admired everyone who went on them, but never thought I'd have the strength. Well God doesn't put something on your heart for no reason. If it's on your heart, and it's good, then it's from Him and He will make a way.
I thought about what opportunities I had to help another country. I knew I had my spring break covered with a trip to Colorado with my parents to vacation and scope out different advertising agencies. I thought about doing something during the summer but the uncertainty of if I would have a job by then made it complicated. As I sat there feeling hopeless, I realized my spring break was not set in stone. No plane tickets were bought. I knew my friend Chuck Wagon (his real name is Kyle) and my other friend Joey along with 18 other students were going on a mission trip to Honduras for Spring Break. I was so excited about the prospect of going that I called Chuck Wagon at 2 in the morning just to get more information.
For the next 5 days I was up and down, definitely yes, definitely no, about going. I was unsure about bringing it up to my parents because I only wanted to bring it up to them if I was 100% sure I wanted to go. Looking back, it is funny how God would not let me be satisfied with turning down the trip. On the days that I had decided I definitely wasn't going, I found myself rationalizing. I found myself making excuses. I found myself unsatisfied. I still kept thinking about the trip because that "no" didn't sit right in my heart.
Ultimately, it took a conversation with Chuck Wagon for me to realize that the trip was going to be challenging, but that I would have trusting friends there with me to help me through it. I also started thinking less about the logistics of the trip and more about my personal reasons for wanting to go. It's not about anything other than showing God's love to the people of Honduras. Serving them and serving Him. Any struggle I face will last 10 days. 10 measly days. I am so grateful for that.
Bottom line is, anytime you find yourself admiring a good trait in someone or something, anytime you crave a change in your lifestyle, know that you CAN be that person. Once it clicks, it's powerful and exciting to see where the change will take you and what you'll learn along the way.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Typing vs. Pen to Paper
why pen to paper is better for your creative writing. (in my humble opinion).
you can't edit them as you go. all your thoughts are forced to be exposed on the page for you to reflect upon and analyze. That is the best though because seeing every ounce of what you're feeling in front of you directs you to the best conclusion.
no distractions. all your attention is focused directly on the page in front of you. the white blank page staring at you almost begs you to write on it. you want to fill it up. you are not distracted by "oh what's this new feature?" or an advertisement or even tempted to check facebook or twitter. (the horror!)
the sound. the sound of typing is so yuck. it's so 21st century technology. it is a sound that fills our loooong daaaaaays with school work, business work etc. pen to paper just flows. its silence allows you to hear your thoughts clearly.
it is out of your comfort zone. we spend so much time on the computer that to be creative on it is just bleeech. not possible. the internet is like an entirely separate world from the real world. when we take ourselves away from the internet, we are that much more forced to be focused on the real. the now. the uncomfortable.
you can't edit them as you go. all your thoughts are forced to be exposed on the page for you to reflect upon and analyze. That is the best though because seeing every ounce of what you're feeling in front of you directs you to the best conclusion.
no distractions. all your attention is focused directly on the page in front of you. the white blank page staring at you almost begs you to write on it. you want to fill it up. you are not distracted by "oh what's this new feature?" or an advertisement or even tempted to check facebook or twitter. (the horror!)
the sound. the sound of typing is so yuck. it's so 21st century technology. it is a sound that fills our loooong daaaaaays with school work, business work etc. pen to paper just flows. its silence allows you to hear your thoughts clearly.
it is out of your comfort zone. we spend so much time on the computer that to be creative on it is just bleeech. not possible. the internet is like an entirely separate world from the real world. when we take ourselves away from the internet, we are that much more forced to be focused on the real. the now. the uncomfortable.
Monday, November 7, 2011
thoughts on: Glory and Freedom
The concept of glorifying God has been on my heart this past week. I think it was last week when it really hit me what glorifying God is. It's one of those phrases that is tossed around "Glory be to God"....but WHY. Why should we glorify Him? Doesn't that seem a bit selfish that God made us for Him? That we shouldn't glorify anything BUT Him? I think this is where the flawed view of God comes into play if we are thinking this way. Because as I learned last week:
"When God gets his glory. We get our joy."
It was like boom! "oooh God is good and love and all of those things so by glorifying Him, in return, we are made happy!" It is not selfish of Him at all if WE are the ones reaping the benefits of glorifying him. I think there is the misconception that God is some like evil tax keeper and when we glorify him we are giving him all our money and he just keeps it all in a bank and leaves us miserable. In reality though, when we praise God and honor him with our hearts and actions, He blesses us like 100x more than we could imagine. (proven many times in my own life). Bottom line: it is easy to forget that God is literally the image of everything that is good in the universe. He IS love. so only good can come out of glorifying something of that nature.
The other misconception that I struggle with as I'm sure many others do is imagining God to be this rule keeper. That he RESTRICTS us. That he PREVENTS us from living fun-filled, wild, adventurous, risky lives. God completely spoke to me in my moment of thinking this. "He gives us the FREEDOM to live fun-filled, wild, adventurous, and risky lives!" Because of Him, we have the roadmap for how to live this life to the fullest. (He knows because He created it.) Our lives can be filled with those crazy traits, but with God, they will have purpose behind them. Taking big risks and trusting God will provide. Traveling the world and seeing His creation. Fun-filled adventures with genuine friends. I guess what i'm getting at is things don't have to be sinful to be fun.
"I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free." -Psalm 119:32
"Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." -John 8:32
"You my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love." -Galatians 5:13
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." -Galatians 5:22-23
xoxo Katie
"When God gets his glory. We get our joy."
It was like boom! "oooh God is good and love and all of those things so by glorifying Him, in return, we are made happy!" It is not selfish of Him at all if WE are the ones reaping the benefits of glorifying him. I think there is the misconception that God is some like evil tax keeper and when we glorify him we are giving him all our money and he just keeps it all in a bank and leaves us miserable. In reality though, when we praise God and honor him with our hearts and actions, He blesses us like 100x more than we could imagine. (proven many times in my own life). Bottom line: it is easy to forget that God is literally the image of everything that is good in the universe. He IS love. so only good can come out of glorifying something of that nature.
The other misconception that I struggle with as I'm sure many others do is imagining God to be this rule keeper. That he RESTRICTS us. That he PREVENTS us from living fun-filled, wild, adventurous, risky lives. God completely spoke to me in my moment of thinking this. "He gives us the FREEDOM to live fun-filled, wild, adventurous, and risky lives!" Because of Him, we have the roadmap for how to live this life to the fullest. (He knows because He created it.) Our lives can be filled with those crazy traits, but with God, they will have purpose behind them. Taking big risks and trusting God will provide. Traveling the world and seeing His creation. Fun-filled adventures with genuine friends. I guess what i'm getting at is things don't have to be sinful to be fun.
"I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free." -Psalm 119:32
"Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." -John 8:32
"You my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather, serve one another in love." -Galatians 5:13
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." -Galatians 5:22-23
xoxo Katie
Friday, November 4, 2011
Today Is A Very Scary Day
Today is a very scary day.
Even the black cats are not out to play.
The wind blows the rain in my face.
So I am forced to walk at a very fast pace.
Today I was going to bike.
But then I was forced to hike.
Hike to class 15 minutes away.
Today is a very scary day.
Umbrellas flipping inside-out.
Embarrassing their owners without a doubt.
Fingers without mittens go numb as ice.
When you are unprepared, you pay the price.
All I want is my warm, cuddly room.
The cold and rain can only bring doom.
No sun in sight, not a single ray.
Today was a very scary day.
thank you.
Even the black cats are not out to play.
The wind blows the rain in my face.
So I am forced to walk at a very fast pace.
Today I was going to bike.
But then I was forced to hike.
Hike to class 15 minutes away.
Today is a very scary day.
Umbrellas flipping inside-out.
Embarrassing their owners without a doubt.
Fingers without mittens go numb as ice.
When you are unprepared, you pay the price.
All I want is my warm, cuddly room.
The cold and rain can only bring doom.
No sun in sight, not a single ray.
Today was a very scary day.
thank you.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The Lows.
I went to Christian Chapel this morning after a few weeks doing The Crossing. It was soooo amazing. I want to share a little about the message and what I was thinking about. The new series starting today is called "Miracles". This sermon was about how God prepares you for miracles to happen. So why God brings lows into our lives. These numbered points are directly from the sermon.
When God brings you low...
1. The lesson is not about you.
Pastor John brought up the book of Job in the bible. How he had everything taken away from him and he still glorified God. This book is not about Job, but is about God getting glory. That is what everything is about. It is never about us.
This point opened my eyes to the fact that through the low times God brings you closest to him, so even the low times are good. I've always known the low times bring a person closest to God, I am just now realizing that that is what makes them good. Pastor John said when we're down, we should stay down if that's what it takes for us to be close to God and learning about him. When everything is perfect in life, when we are full of hope and joy and thriving relationships, THAT'S when we reject and forget about God. We think we have solved everything on our own, that we are deserving of all the amazing things in our life...that we don't need him anymore.
2. To test your heart.
This point rang clear as a bell. God puts so many low points in our lives to test the state of our heart. Where does it lie... Where does it find it's hope, worth, security.... It made me think of a couple weekends ago when my car was dented by a stranger and how that was a true test of my heart. It opened my eyes to my insane materialism. Sometimes God has to give us lows to open our eyes to the condition of our hearts because we alone cannot see them! Another low that God gives me is lonely nights. Sometimes all of my friends are busy and I am so annoyed that I have no plans. I fel lonely and start over thinking things. In those times, God is testing my heart. He is showing me that I find my worth in my friendships and not Him. It all ties together with another post I wrote about God giving you those lonely nights so that you do have a chance to open your bible, listen to worship music and be brought closer to Him. In our eyes, these things are lows, but it is really God seeking after us.
3. To show you the person you can become.
We should see ourselves as God sees us. His daughters and sons. Lovable. Perfect in his eyes. When we are experiencing a low, we yearn for a change. This gives us the opportunity to evaluate what kind of people we want to be and the bible provides us the perfect example to follow: Jesus.
4. To do a miracle.
Other awesome notes from the message...
--Our sin affects other people. (gossip, greed, pride, insecurities, complaining,) are a few that popped into my mind for me personally. While my sin affects other people, I also can't let others' sin affect me and drag me down. I have to be aware of this two way street and it's definitely something I have not been so aware of.
---If we do not have Gods peace, we begin to fear God in an unhealthy way. We have a flawed view of who he is. We need to figure out what our idol is, what are we finding our hope and worth in, instead of God that is leaving us disappointed and, therefore, fearful.
I just thought this was a great message and had to share it! Thoughts??
xoxo Katie
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
my weekend.
This past weekend my car was backed into and dented on its driver side. It was parked on the street and I'm about 99% sure I know who did it, but the person is convinced he didn't do it sooo it won't be fixed.
At first when I saw the dent, I was so mad. I had to play detective for the next 24 hours trying to figure out who did it and if it would be fixed. The thing that pissed me off the most though, wasn't the physical dent in the car, but the fact that someone didn't have to take responsibility for it and that they were getting away with it. There was no justice.
Through this experience though, it has forced me to look at what I find value in and what I take for granted. I took my car for granted and only realized how great it is after it was dented. More importantly though, I found that I do find my value in materialistic things. I have known this for a long time (or why would I find the need to buy new cute clothes every few months). I think a ton of people find their value mistakenly in materialistic things. My car getting dented though, was an actual TEST of that value. I just kept repeating to myself "it is only a car. it is only a car. it still works. be thankful it wasn't damaged worse." I mean, it is just a piece of metal that moves me from one place to another. It is a tool. It says nothing about who I am, and it certainly won't last forever. It was overall a good wakeup call to show me that materialistic things are of little importance and I should try my hardest everyday not to be defined by these things.
So my car was dented on Friday night. The next morning, I coached my 1-3 grade girls soccer team. They had a game at 9am. I have been meaning to blog about them, but this weekend I particularly learned from them. So after I was so frustrated about my car...I went to coach the game and there standing, excited, ready to play were a bunch of little girls with smiling faces excited to see me. Coaching upward is such an escape from my problems--it's such a blessing! I get to leave the college campus, problems, homework, drama for 2 hours each week to hang out with little girls who find so much joy in an acorn, or the playground slide... (below: Grace, Molly, and Eliana).
That same day I babysat two little girls (2nd grade Emily and 7th grade Rebecca) for 5 hours. I coached the 7th grader last year. Again, it was just so refreshing to hang out with kids who just like to have fun and are happy all the time! I've found that hanging out with kids has really changed and grown my perspective on what joy is. I feel like they rejuvenate my cranky old soul and unknowingly remind me of the important things in life.
Here are a few hairstyles Emily (2nd grade) did on my hair:)
xoxo Katie
At first when I saw the dent, I was so mad. I had to play detective for the next 24 hours trying to figure out who did it and if it would be fixed. The thing that pissed me off the most though, wasn't the physical dent in the car, but the fact that someone didn't have to take responsibility for it and that they were getting away with it. There was no justice.
Through this experience though, it has forced me to look at what I find value in and what I take for granted. I took my car for granted and only realized how great it is after it was dented. More importantly though, I found that I do find my value in materialistic things. I have known this for a long time (or why would I find the need to buy new cute clothes every few months). I think a ton of people find their value mistakenly in materialistic things. My car getting dented though, was an actual TEST of that value. I just kept repeating to myself "it is only a car. it is only a car. it still works. be thankful it wasn't damaged worse." I mean, it is just a piece of metal that moves me from one place to another. It is a tool. It says nothing about who I am, and it certainly won't last forever. It was overall a good wakeup call to show me that materialistic things are of little importance and I should try my hardest everyday not to be defined by these things.
So my car was dented on Friday night. The next morning, I coached my 1-3 grade girls soccer team. They had a game at 9am. I have been meaning to blog about them, but this weekend I particularly learned from them. So after I was so frustrated about my car...I went to coach the game and there standing, excited, ready to play were a bunch of little girls with smiling faces excited to see me. Coaching upward is such an escape from my problems--it's such a blessing! I get to leave the college campus, problems, homework, drama for 2 hours each week to hang out with little girls who find so much joy in an acorn, or the playground slide... (below: Grace, Molly, and Eliana).
That same day I babysat two little girls (2nd grade Emily and 7th grade Rebecca) for 5 hours. I coached the 7th grader last year. Again, it was just so refreshing to hang out with kids who just like to have fun and are happy all the time! I've found that hanging out with kids has really changed and grown my perspective on what joy is. I feel like they rejuvenate my cranky old soul and unknowingly remind me of the important things in life.
Here are a few hairstyles Emily (2nd grade) did on my hair:)
xoxo Katie
Friday, September 9, 2011
Millionaire Matchmaker and God
I was thinking the other day. About this weird metaphor that strangely makes sense. All humans are like the weirdo millionaires that go on Millionaire Matchmaker. Let me explain...
Everytime I watch that show, I am frustrated by the Millionaires. They have some sort of dating issue or personality problem that prevents them from finding their soul mate. Patty (the matchmaker) steps in and tells them their problem and how to fix it (it usually has to do with NOT picking girls that are half their age to date) and what do the millionaires do? THEY COMPLETELY IGNORE IT! I am like wow! you must not REALLY want to find your soul mate if you don't take the advice that is handed to you by the expert!! Then they go on a date with a girl half their age and of course, it fails. Because the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again but expecting different results. Of course it is going to fail with the woman you picked in Patty's millionaire club--because she's just like the girls you pick OUTSIDE of Patty's millionaire club! ....(that's what i am screaming at the tv.)
Anyway, it had me thinking and all of a sudden I was like wait a minute....I am EXACTLY like those Millionaires. Except instead of ignoring Patty's expert advice, I ignore God's expert advice. All humans do! time and time again, it is our number one flaw to ignore God and think we can do this life on our own. We think we know everything. We think we can fix/figure out every problem. And time and time again, we disappoint ourselves. We are left with the same mess we were the last time we tried to do things on our own. Confused, lonely, empty. Just as I yell at the TV every time the Millionaire's ignore Patty's advice, I yell at myself everytime I ignore God's wisdom and act as the sinful human I am. I am ignoring the expert on life, the CREATOR of this life, when He knows the exact perfect way to live it to it's greatest fulfillment!
And just as the Millionaire's that actually listen to Patty's advice always end up with their perfect match, everytime I feel I am living for God, I am truly fulfilled. I know I cannot change my sinful human nature, but I CAN spend more time with God and pray that his wisdom starts to overtake my sinful actions. I cannot sit and do nothing and just hope that I change. That would be like those Millionaires completely ignoring their dating life all together--they're certainly not going to find someone that way! A person has to be active in overshadowing their sinful nature by spending time with God and learning from him.
I need to do this more often.
Katie
Everytime I watch that show, I am frustrated by the Millionaires. They have some sort of dating issue or personality problem that prevents them from finding their soul mate. Patty (the matchmaker) steps in and tells them their problem and how to fix it (it usually has to do with NOT picking girls that are half their age to date) and what do the millionaires do? THEY COMPLETELY IGNORE IT! I am like wow! you must not REALLY want to find your soul mate if you don't take the advice that is handed to you by the expert!! Then they go on a date with a girl half their age and of course, it fails. Because the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again but expecting different results. Of course it is going to fail with the woman you picked in Patty's millionaire club--because she's just like the girls you pick OUTSIDE of Patty's millionaire club! ....(that's what i am screaming at the tv.)
Anyway, it had me thinking and all of a sudden I was like wait a minute....I am EXACTLY like those Millionaires. Except instead of ignoring Patty's expert advice, I ignore God's expert advice. All humans do! time and time again, it is our number one flaw to ignore God and think we can do this life on our own. We think we know everything. We think we can fix/figure out every problem. And time and time again, we disappoint ourselves. We are left with the same mess we were the last time we tried to do things on our own. Confused, lonely, empty. Just as I yell at the TV every time the Millionaire's ignore Patty's advice, I yell at myself everytime I ignore God's wisdom and act as the sinful human I am. I am ignoring the expert on life, the CREATOR of this life, when He knows the exact perfect way to live it to it's greatest fulfillment!
And just as the Millionaire's that actually listen to Patty's advice always end up with their perfect match, everytime I feel I am living for God, I am truly fulfilled. I know I cannot change my sinful human nature, but I CAN spend more time with God and pray that his wisdom starts to overtake my sinful actions. I cannot sit and do nothing and just hope that I change. That would be like those Millionaires completely ignoring their dating life all together--they're certainly not going to find someone that way! A person has to be active in overshadowing their sinful nature by spending time with God and learning from him.
I need to do this more often.
Katie
Friday, August 5, 2011
When God gets you alone...
If there's one thing I've learned about God in college, it's that if He wants to get you alone, He will. This happened a lot freshman year when I was struggling with transitioning to school and I had barely any friends yet and many lonely/boring nights. I remember I would be so bored that I would take out my bible and have a quiet time. And always feel so good and refreshed afterward. Well that hasn't happened in a long time (ever since I made friends), but it happened tonight. Literally, every friend that is moved back/living in Columbia right now was either busy or out of town tonight. I haven't done anything all day but drown myself in tv and internet. The usual.
Well tonight it started with my shower. When I got out of the shower I turned off my tv and turned on some great new relaxing music i downloaded today. Then I started jotting notes on my computer. Then I grabbed my bible and whatdayaknow I learned something! I read about the book of Romans which led me to read a profile about Paul. I have always heard about Paul and wish I'd known more because I know he is a key player in the bible, but it didn't really occur to me to look him up in my study bible. I definitely forget how amazing my study bible is until I read it. It is SOOOO educational I love it! But it summarizes key themes and lessons and has short profiles and summmaries of people and each book. As well as timeslines and maps.
I forget how much I can learn on my own. I think that is something I am looking forward to in this house for next year. Being encouraged by my roommates to have quiet time more often and grow together. I always depend on going to bible studies or church, but I am realizing tonight, my study bible isn't a scary bible. It is just plain helpful! I'm seeing lots of spiritual growth in my future:)
-Katie
Well tonight it started with my shower. When I got out of the shower I turned off my tv and turned on some great new relaxing music i downloaded today. Then I started jotting notes on my computer. Then I grabbed my bible and whatdayaknow I learned something! I read about the book of Romans which led me to read a profile about Paul. I have always heard about Paul and wish I'd known more because I know he is a key player in the bible, but it didn't really occur to me to look him up in my study bible. I definitely forget how amazing my study bible is until I read it. It is SOOOO educational I love it! But it summarizes key themes and lessons and has short profiles and summmaries of people and each book. As well as timeslines and maps.
I forget how much I can learn on my own. I think that is something I am looking forward to in this house for next year. Being encouraged by my roommates to have quiet time more often and grow together. I always depend on going to bible studies or church, but I am realizing tonight, my study bible isn't a scary bible. It is just plain helpful! I'm seeing lots of spiritual growth in my future:)
-Katie
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Midnight In Paris lessons:)
Midnight in Paris is an amazing movie!! Everyone should see it. I saw it with my momma when she visited me in KC. It was soooo inspiring and i'm still thinking about it a week later so i had to write about it. I wrote this message actually to my friend Bre because we both loved it so much.
So here is what i learned/what i generally loved about it/how it inspired me:)
1. ive been thinking about real world after graduating and all the plans and places i could go! mostly for fun with little stress. but the biggest lesson from the movie was that you should go and do where you feel is right for you and like just "GO DO WHAT YOU WANT! WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!" sort of thing:)
2. i was overall super inspired by his independence to just decide to stay in Paris.
3. I was overall inspired by how devoted of a writer he is and just watching it made me want to write more and find things/places that inspire me to write more.
4. that whole speech by hemmingway about not thinking about death when you're with the person you love lol that whole thing was sooo intruiging to me! Like all of your fears should subside when you're with the person you love:)
5. You don't need people in your life that hold you back or criticize you just because they've been in your life forever and it's comfortable for them to stay in it like his fiancee was. Overall theme from that being like don't live the life that is expected of you or what pleases others.
6. Then there's the whole wishing he lived in a different generation. This lesson shouted at me like the "DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!" lesson:). It all of sudden became crystal clear that saying living in another generation is COMPLETE fantasy. Like yes, i say the 50's are innocent and love tons of things about it but either way, they had no internet or air conditioning or microwave or advanced medicine. And just seeing it played out how he met someone from the 20's and she didn't like the 20's and wanted to live even earlier was just SO FREAKING INTERESTING!!!! because i am totally like that whether it be wishing i'd live in the past or living too much in the future.
7. also i learned that living in the present IS interesting to someone. Like that is why it is so fun to read my journals from elementary school and middle school and high school etc, because it is so interesting to see how i thought "back in the day". While daily situations seem boring, it will be interesting to me in the future so i should journal more about daily happenings. It gave me an outside perspective that life is in fact interesting everyday...it just may take us a few years down the road to realize that.
Katie
So here is what i learned/what i generally loved about it/how it inspired me:)
1. ive been thinking about real world after graduating and all the plans and places i could go! mostly for fun with little stress. but the biggest lesson from the movie was that you should go and do where you feel is right for you and like just "GO DO WHAT YOU WANT! WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!" sort of thing:)
2. i was overall super inspired by his independence to just decide to stay in Paris.
3. I was overall inspired by how devoted of a writer he is and just watching it made me want to write more and find things/places that inspire me to write more.
4. that whole speech by hemmingway about not thinking about death when you're with the person you love lol that whole thing was sooo intruiging to me! Like all of your fears should subside when you're with the person you love:)
5. You don't need people in your life that hold you back or criticize you just because they've been in your life forever and it's comfortable for them to stay in it like his fiancee was. Overall theme from that being like don't live the life that is expected of you or what pleases others.
6. Then there's the whole wishing he lived in a different generation. This lesson shouted at me like the "DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!" lesson:). It all of sudden became crystal clear that saying living in another generation is COMPLETE fantasy. Like yes, i say the 50's are innocent and love tons of things about it but either way, they had no internet or air conditioning or microwave or advanced medicine. And just seeing it played out how he met someone from the 20's and she didn't like the 20's and wanted to live even earlier was just SO FREAKING INTERESTING!!!! because i am totally like that whether it be wishing i'd live in the past or living too much in the future.
7. also i learned that living in the present IS interesting to someone. Like that is why it is so fun to read my journals from elementary school and middle school and high school etc, because it is so interesting to see how i thought "back in the day". While daily situations seem boring, it will be interesting to me in the future so i should journal more about daily happenings. It gave me an outside perspective that life is in fact interesting everyday...it just may take us a few years down the road to realize that.
Katie
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Live Each Day As If It's Your Last
"live each day as if it's your last" does not have to be some big act. it is not about going skydiving or traveling the world or telling your secret crush that you love them. I have learned this is talking about the little things. eating that last piece of cake, going for a swim and getting your hair wet even if it means an extra shower, choosing people before money or time or anything materialistic. There are so many people that would take a plane ride to go to someone's funeral, but make all the excuses in the world about why they don't have the time or money to visit the person while they're still alive. I'm not talking elderly people, I'm talking family members, long distance friends...you really never know when the last time you'll get to see them is and I know I'd rather have the people I love visit me for a vacation and none of them come to my funeral rather than vice versa.
The whole idea of this comes from an article my dad sent me a few years ago about this famous author who wrote a list of all the things she wished she had done during her life. She wrote it while she was on her deathbed. I only remember these 3 things, but reading the article was extremely powerful and obviously the lesson has stuck with me.
She wrote:
1. i wish i would have said yes to dessert
2. i wish i would have not cared about messing up my hair when i rode in a convertible
3. i wish i wouldn't have told my kids to go watch tv as much
Dad, if you have the article will you send it to me again? or I'm sure you remember this woman's name and I can google it.
Anywho, thought it was interesting how the line "live each day like it's your last" has become cliche and almost meaningless, but when you really evaluate the little things in life...it can mean so much more!!
Katie
The whole idea of this comes from an article my dad sent me a few years ago about this famous author who wrote a list of all the things she wished she had done during her life. She wrote it while she was on her deathbed. I only remember these 3 things, but reading the article was extremely powerful and obviously the lesson has stuck with me.
She wrote:
1. i wish i would have said yes to dessert
2. i wish i would have not cared about messing up my hair when i rode in a convertible
3. i wish i wouldn't have told my kids to go watch tv as much
Dad, if you have the article will you send it to me again? or I'm sure you remember this woman's name and I can google it.
Anywho, thought it was interesting how the line "live each day like it's your last" has become cliche and almost meaningless, but when you really evaluate the little things in life...it can mean so much more!!
Katie
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