Live: Take A Bite Out Of Life

I’ve often wondered if those who have these manicured pretty lives really understand how amazing they could be if they rolled up their sleeves every now and then and shook things up.  I wonder if they know how truly powerful their lives are if they looked at life not as something that has to be pushed down, ordered, sifted, polished, and displayed but instead something real they could taste.

As we’ve witnessed these past few weeks, life can be messy. Writer Natalie Goldberg said it best in Wild Mind when she wrote “Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make life so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.”

Life derails us. Stocks go down, businesses go belly up, credit freezes, hockey moms run for office. So what? Dig into your one juicy life and make the most of it. Find one thing that you haven’t yet done and work towards it even though it may feel a little painful or hard to do for now.

Life, for every time it’s let you down, is there to show you that with every minute you breathe there is something you haven’t yet tasted. Some of it may be bitter, but rest assured, you’ll hit that sweet spot eventually if you haven’t already experienced it once or twice before.

So our new tag line for Make Every Day A Holiday, along with our new little icon – the green apple – is: Take a Bite Out Of Life. Because for those of us who try to make the most of everyday living, we understand that it’s organic. It’s imperfect. It’s ever-changing. It’s sometimes sticky, sometimes bitter or sour, and yes it’s sometimes sweet. But we never forget that this one life of ours is delicious in every way. The bad often makes us appreciate more of the good. Life is to be ingested, digested, processed and nourished. Life is to be lived.

I hope you always make the most of your today. May you always find a way to make every day a holiday. And if you need some ideas, you might want to check out the new holidaily feed on Twitter. I’ll give you 365 days and ways to make every day a holiday…or at least food for thought.

All my love,

Kelley

Love: Fight For What We Love

“There would be no passion in this world if we never had to fight for what we love.”

- Susie Switzer

I’m sure you’ve heard the quote, “I’m a lover, not a fighter.” The peaceful person in me would rather love than fight any day, but I know in my heart, the things truly worthy of my love are worth a bit of a fight.

Sometimes, I just wish people would think about taking a more passionate approach to life knowing that nothing good or worthy comes without a lot of effort, perhaps some pain, and a dash of fighting spirit willing that “something that we love” into being.

Why, even having a baby comes with all of that, right?

Why is it that we equate “being a fighter” synonymous with “bad”? It’s not. It’s holy. Those who fought the original crusades and battles winning through immense circumstances were so-called fighters. Those who traveled the wilderness and deserts; some were pioneers, some were prophets. I can think of no higher calling.

When you learn to reach in and fight for what you love, what you hold dear to your heart, you will find courage within the recesses of your soul. If you get knocked down, get right back up. Learn to maybe not so much love the hits so much as know what you’ll get in the end for taking the shots. Nothing worth anything comes to you without a certain amount of blows to the chin. And if you have gotten this far in life pretty easily, imagine what you’ve never known by not fighting a little bit harder, trying a little harder, and taking a few more punches to the gut.

Life is hard won. Love it. Love the process. And fight.

See: wisdom from a champ

So, I love Rocky. With wisdom like this, though, who can blame me?

Enjoy this clip.