81 years. That’s the life expectancy for an American female. 29585 days, 710040 hours, and 42602400 minutes on this planet. We are the authors of our own life stories, and each morning that we rise we are presented with billions of opportunities.
Every second that passes we must decide the impact we want to have on the world, and how much of an impact we will let the world have on us. There are so many potential pathways and so many roads just begging to be traveled. Oftentimes we weigh ourselves down with frivolous worries and shallow obstacles. But life is too short for that, because this is the millennium where we will make change happen. We are the generation of women that will get sh*t done. With that in mind, here are 14 things that life is just too short for:
- Life is too short to go to bed at the same time as the rest of the world. Sleep when you’re tired; be inspired when you’re not. Your dreams are not confined to your delta waves.
- Life is too short to drink your coffee while it’s hot. The curious mind’s thermometer peaks at “lukewarm”.
- Life is too short to stalk the lives of past lovers. Spend your extra time doing something that will stain their eyes green next time your name rings a bell.
- Life is too short to make your bed on Sunday mornings. Littered linens are shockingly satisfying when paired with barefoot trips to the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove. These are the mornings where the crows simulate symphonies beyond your walls and you invite them in to plant their feet aside your tired eyes.
- Life is too short to finish bad books. A good story should simultaneously augment your own anecdote. If the only thing you find growing is the page number, straighten both spines and return to the stacks.
- Life is too short to eat the flavors you don’t enjoy. Take the stairs instead of the elevator and call it a day.
- Life is too short to surround yourself with those who stagnate your successes. If someone is tying you down, you should feel no shame in cutting that cord.
- Life is too short to count the calories. Why fill your conscious with words like “carbohydrates” and “sodium” when the dictionary contains colloquy far more satiating. Forgo the label; master moderation.
- Life is too short to define yourself by your least favourable features. Smash the mirror and focus on your blessings rather than your blemishes.
- Life is too short to wait to tell them that you love them. Yes, them. They deserve to know.
- Life is too short to fall in love with the boys that tell you that you’re pretty just so you’ll ignore the sour tastes in their mouths when you let them sleep in your bed.
- Life is too short to keep asking yourself why they stopped caring about you last fall. Winter came and you still managed to stay warm without them, so why does it matter if their boots no longer decorate your doormat?
- Life is too short to stay in the same spot. If you’ve only ever found your way home once, you haven’t travelled far enough. When you wander there will come a moment when you realize that every alien land is the backdrop to someone else’s cradle to grave. Every shore, every mom-and-pop diner and every downtown core that you pass by is home to someone like your home is home to you. Wayfaring strangers all learn that we are each simply passing through, and the best we can do is crack open the car window and invite the foreign winds to ruffle our locks.
- Life is too short not to share your story. Your ink just might provoke someone else to grip their own pen a little tighter.
Life is short, but long enough still to hold on to hope for a little while. We have no time to waste because we can always do so much more. The future is our oyster, and we should treat it as one would a pearl. May this act as a friendly reminder to never slow down, because life is far too short to be going anywhere but forward.
Featured image via Roberto Nickson on Pexels
Merci, c’est inspirant!