This is it...

A quote I found this morning in the book, The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp.

For all of a sudden when I saw those lights, I said to myself,
Ivy, this is your life, this is your real life, and you are living it.
Your life is not going to start later. 
This is it, it is now.
It's funny how a person can be so busy that they forget this is it.
This is my life. ( Lee Smith, Fair and Tender Ladies)


Yup, this is it. This is my life. I'm gonna turn 46 in December. It's not likely that I've got another 46 years in me after these. But even if I do, this is the one life I get to live here on earth. These are the only days I get to pay close attention to, cherish, and give thanks for.

Each bowl of cereal, bottle of ice water, bagel with cream cheese, and cup of tea.
Each turning leaf, fading flower, and creeping vine.
Each person I look at, listen to, smile at, and dream about.
Each person I laugh with, cry with, and make plans with.
Each trip to the beach, to Spain, to New York City, and all the adventure that accompanies me on each journey.
Each morning that I sit at my desk, writing my morning pages, watching my neighbors leave for work, and greeting the sun when it rises.
Each evening that I prepare and clean up after dinner, fold the last loads of laundry, and kiss my children good-night.
Each afternoon when I get down on my knees to scrub something, to pick something up, or to pray.
Each time I leave this house to drive my daughter to the bus or my son to tennis or myself to Trader Joe's.
Each time I return home, pull safely into the garage, and say, "Thank you, Lord, for keeping us safe on yet another journey, through yet another day."


This is it. This is my life, my real life. These are the days of my one wild and precious life.
Sure, I could complain about what is lacking, what I wish would change, who I wish would change.
Sometimes I do complain. Okay, I admit it: I complain a lot
- even if it's only in my journal and with my closest friends.
No matter how much I moan and groan about it, this is it.
This is my life. These are the ways and the days that make up my real life.
I plan to live these last days, no matter how many or how few that remain with grace, with honesty, with dignity, with faith, with hope, in peace, and with joy.
I'm gonna throw some fun in there too, lots of laughter, and immeasurable gratitude.


In answer to the question, "Why are you so happy?" Heller Keller said, "My child, it is because I live each day as if it were my last, and life, with all its moments, is so full of glory."