Live

I said in a previous post that I got into a "Why not?" mood and that it has gotten me to do some really fun things that I would not have ordinarily done. *Disclaimer* this post will be repeating some of the same advice.

I saw this picture today and it made me smile because my dogs always look like Christmas came early when they manage to get out of the yard. We used to chase one of them up and down the neighborhood when she was a puppy because she thought this was the greatest game ever invented.

That feeling, that look on those dogs faces, is the embodiment of pure joy - at least that is how I feel anyways. So get out there, take a chance, what do you have to lose?

I recently decided to run for a regional officer position in an organization that I am currently the President of for a local chapter. I have a friend who is the president of a different organization's local chapter - and she is now running for National Student President. One of my friends texted me after she found out that I was running for a regional officer. Her message? Simply to tell me how amazing I am and what a great job I have done. I can tell you that 1) I didn't do it all on my own, 2) I am well aware that there is at least 1 person who doesn't agree with her, 3) I really needed to hear that, and 4) the only reason I am doing anything worth while is because at one point I decided "why not?"

Be unbounded. Be unpredictable. Take chances. Find the joy in life. For me, sometimes joy is just being silly with my friends and sometimes it is living up to my own expectations while completely surpassing everyone else's. That joy is empowering and infectious (the cool kind!) and can take you wherever you want to go. It can heal a broken soul (on any level), it can motivate people to do things they never thought possible or within their reach, it can make you feel invincible. And sometimes being invincible is exactly the kind of feeling that propels life forward.

I don't think we should be stupid, by any means, but to be a little bit crazy and try new things and find the joy in life not only creates for good stories down the road and creates a happier self in the present, but it also shapes who we are as people and gets us closer to the people we were meant to be.

So, my advice? Go out and "Live....like somebody left the gate open."