Live Your Life!

Yesterday, at a memorial service for the 35 year-old son of a good friend, the sermon ended by quoting the deceased: "Go ahead and live your life!" He had said these words several years ago to his father, a widow, who was considering remarriage. He took his son's advice and is happily married to a wonderful woman.

This advice seems so simple in theory, but isn't so easy in practice. So much gets in the way of living life to its fullest. There are problems to be solved, relationships to be healed, obstacles to overcome, compulsions to be tamed and fears to be calmed. Not a day goes by that we don't have to deal with some challenge or difficulty. But, what's the alternative to living our life?

There is a line from a poem by Irish poet Seamus Heaney that is relevant here: "How perilous it is not to live the life you've been shown." My interpretation of this is that, if we refuse to "live the life we have," we risk not really living at all. We risk going through the motions of living without experiencing the meaning, purpose and joy of living.

We only have one life to live. This life is a gift to be enjoyed and appreciated. So, let's go ahead and live our lives!