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Sunday Thought For The Day

Spring Converse
Creative Commons License photo credit: Kat…

 If I had my life to live over, I’d dare to make more mis­takes next time. I’d relax, I would lim­ber up. I would be sil­lier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seri­ously. I would take more chances. I would climb more moun­tains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would per­haps have more actual trou­bles, but I’d have fewer imag­i­nary ones.

You see, I’m one of those peo­ple who lived sen­si­bly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have noth­ing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of liv­ing so many years ahead of each day. I’ve been one of those per­sons who never goes any­where with­out a ther­mome­ter, a hot water bot­tle, a rain­coat and a para­chute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start bare­foot ear­lier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.

~ Nadine Stair (age 85 at time of quote)

A very spe­cial thank you to Dr. Holly Latty-Mann for shar­ing this quote.

Lance writes sto­ries from his heart, aim­ing to inspire and moti­vate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he’s not here, you can find him hang­ing out with his fam­ily, rid­ing a bike, or just gen­er­ally act­ing goofy.   Sign up for the Thoughts from the Tree­house newslet­ter and get addi­tional inspi­ra­tion in your email inbox!
Lance Ekum
View all posts by Lance Ekum

Comments

  1. HI Lance,
    As Always a beau­ti­ful quote…and so much wis­dom in it for us younger kids (com­pared to Nadine Stair).
    I think if we actu­ally make this quote out mantra for LIVING…truly truly living…we would be truly ALIVE…and by the time we reach the 85 mark we would remem­ber every moment. It would be like look­ing at a beau­ti­ful life well lived through the kalei­do­scope of our own mind.…..
    I cant wait .…I am going to live by this NOW!!
    We all should.…A moment by moment kaleidoscope..of our life.…oh what fun :)
    My Sun­day has already become Great and mem­o­rable !! ;)
    Thank you Lance.…
    Oh…I love the pic …just per­fect :)
    .-= Zeenat{Positive Provocations}´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Being Alive{Inspirational Quote} =-.

  2. Suzie Cheel says:

    I love this quote, think I first got it from My mother many years ago. I love I would stop to pick the daisies– some­times we for­get the sim­ple things that remind us we are already abun­dant. And daisies in the pic :)
    .-= Suzie Cheel´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Happy for No Rea­son =-.

  3. Dr. Rus says:

    Hey Lance!

    What a great way to start a Sun­day. We live in a world where many peo­ple take things way too seri­ously. Thanks for the reminder that we should also live life with a sense of aban­don too.

    Dr. Rus

  4. Chris says:

    Won­der­ful! I love the pho­to­graph. I need more moments…
    .-= Chris´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Dev­iled Eggs =-.

  5. Laurie says:

    Lance, what would you do dif­fer­ently if you had it to do all over again?

    Me? I would have got­ten help sooner for my son and fam­ily. I would have majored in psy­chol­ogy and art. I would have said no more and yes more and at the right times.

  6. I love the inspi­ra­tion tom make more mis­takes while liv­ing life lightly in more care­free fash­ion. That’s a beau­ti­ful pre­scrip­tion for liv­ing that proves that every­thing counts but noth­ing really mat­ters.
    .-= Tom Volkar / Big Link Rally´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Eas­ing into Bold Engage­ments =-.

  7. Joanna says:

    Ahhh, well I most cer­tainly needed to hear this. I’m a girl that sweats the small stuff…and the big stuff. And right now, I’m drip­ping in sweat. Maybe, just maybe it’s time to change my perspective.

    Thank you, Lance.
    .-= Joanna´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sun­day School =-.

  8. Well, I never leave my house with­out my water bot­tle and a piece of fruit (what can I say, I will not apol­o­gize, they both come in handy!). I have over the years learned to lit­er­ally ride more merry go-rounds (so fun!) and I def­i­nitely eat more ice cream than beans. :-)

    Silly, I love silly. We all need more silly (when appropriate)…we take our­selves too seriously!

    P.S. you always find the best pho­tos!
    .-= Stacey Shipman´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..What is a true call­ing any­way? =-.

  9. Walter says:

    If is a sad word. I will avoid this word as long as I live. :-)

  10. Lance,
    One learns so much from one’s mis­takes… :) I know! It helps those of us who fear fail­ure, or suc­cess for that mat­ter, take things a lit­tle eas­ier and not fear mak­ing the mis­takes along the way.

    Let’s all stop for a moment and actu­ally make that list of peo­ple and things we are grate­ful for… smell the roses… enjoy the wonder…

    Thanks again Lance,
    Dar­ren
    .-= Dar­ren Sproat´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Try Shut­ting Your Mouth =-.

  11. Lynn says:

    Thanks for the reminder Lance! A lovely pas­sage and inspi­ra­tion to make more fun dur­ing the work. My niece is an assis­tant bank man­ager and in charge of the tellers — she started hav­ing “hap­pi­ness hour” for them on Fri­day after­noon. It is usu­ally ice cream sun­daes, some­thing like that and they get together and talk and laugh about the week.
    .-= Lynn´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Hang­ing in, around the cor­ner and show-stopping =-.

  12. Me too. Just the other day I caught myself wor­ry­ing about some lit­tle things. I was anx­ious about some new friends over. I knew every­thing was going to go well, but in the back of my mind I wanted them to like us. There was noth­ing I could have done dif­fer­ently to make them like us, but I still fretted.

    I should have just relaxed and enjoyed the build up instead of freak­ing out. I wasn’t really freak­ing out, but I was ner­vous. Silly I know, but none the less real.

    Next time I will just relax and enjoy my ner­vous­ness. I wouldn’t want to feel any dif­fer­ent, just enjoy the feel­ings that I have.
    .-= Karl Staib — Work Happy Now´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Hard, Fun and Beau­ti­ful – Red Skin Edi­tion =-.

  13. I’m with Stacey. I love silly. I love fun. Last night we drove an hour to a the­ater because that was the only place the movie we wanted to see was play­ing. Today we’re going hik­ing. Tues­day my daugh­ter from Atlanta is com­ing for 5 days of fun and so is a girl­friend from Chicago.

    Con­fes­sion: Like Joanna I worry to much. If I had my life to live over I wouldn’t worry so much. I don’t so I’ll choose to worry less today;)
    .-= Tess The Bold Life´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Thank You for Being My Friend =-.

  14. Lisis says:

    It seems as if every older per­son I’ve known or read about has said some ver­sion of this… LIVE more, have more fun, worry less, don’t color within the lines. In my own life, I made a lot of the stan­dard mis­takes by fol­low­ing all the rules, but I’m try­ing to help my son live accord­ing to these philosophies.

    Here we are, at the end of Novem­ber in Ver­mont, and he’s still wear­ing flip flops. The mom in me (that sounds like my mom) wants to say, “You NEED to put on your socks and shoes; it’s cold out­side!” But the fact is, it isn’t snow­ing (so no risk of frost bite), and he is NOT cold. To say that he doesn’t live by the “stan­dard rules” would be an under­state­ment. My hope is, when he’s 85, he’ll look back and say he lived his life EXACTLY the way he wanted to, and wouldn’t change a thing.
    .-= Lisis´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Inspi­ra­tion from Pema Chodron: Every­one and Every­thing =-.

  15. Lori says:

    This is exactly what peo­ple, includ­ing me needed to hear. If we all lived our life from this per­spec­tive there would be fewer regrets and hap­pier people.

  16. suzen says:

    Hi Lance!
    Isn’t that just THE BEST quote? I read that at least 10 years ago and adopted it imme­di­ately as my “code” for the rest of my life. I seri­ously get a lot of looks for some of the sil­lier things I do and that’s just fine. “They” haven’t carted me off to the demen­tia home yet! haha! I can­not rec­om­mend a free-spirit lifestyle or at least atti­tude enough! The more of the child I bring back to life in me, the more won­der­ful and awe­some this world feels!

  17. There is much to be said for trav­el­ing lighter, in spirit and mate­r­ial pos­ses­sions. The older I get, the less stuff I want.

    Sil­ly­wise, I think I’m doing fairly well. Eat­ing lots of ice cream too. And I’m sure my fam­ily and the world appre­ci­ates I’ve cut ‘way ‘way down on the beans.

    :)
    .-= Jan­nie Funster´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Bag Chil­dren At The Park =-.

  18. Jay Schryer says:

    This sounds like a won­der­ful phi­los­o­phy for life, and I plan on imple­ment­ing it imme­di­ately!
    .-= Jay Schryer´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Lov­ing It for What It Is =-.

  19. Linda Abbit says:

    I love this quote, Lance, and it’s always great to read it again! The mes­sage is so true, and I’m glad you’re shar­ing it with the world. Thank you.

    I know as I’ve got­ten older and have faced chal­lenges in life, I’ve learned to keep any “wasted wor­ry­ing” (as I like to call it) to a minimum.

    This time while read­ing the quote I’m ask­ing myself — are just Amer­i­cans so uptight, or are peo­ple of other cul­tures built this way, too? This prob­a­bly popped in my head b/c a friend came back from a month in Kenya and told me that they don’t have the word “com­plain” in their vocab­u­lary!!
    .-= Linda Abbit´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Announc­ing a TLeC Con­test for National Fam­ily Care­givers Month 2009 =-.

  20. The last para­graph, in par­tic­u­lar, about going bare­foot longer, going to more dances and pick­ing more daisies really spoke to me. I liked this quote so much that I imme­di­ately sent it on to some­one I love deeply… Some­one with whom I knew Nadine’s words would res­onate instantly. And they did. So Lance please know that your choice of quotes today touched more than those who sim­ply read your blog, and what a great exam­ple that is of how our ener­gies and inten­tions rip­ple out­ward, affect­ing count­less other beings.
    Be well, my friend!
    .-= Megan “Joy­Girl!” Bord´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Read. LAUGH! Repeat. =-.

  21. Hi Lance,

    This quote made me sad because it sounds like the author has regret about how he lived his life and that makes me sad. Life should be lived with no regret and some­times you just have to jump off the cliff because it is the right thing to do. There is no such thing as being sen­si­ble and safe. Usu­ally peo­ple do such things end up being mis­er­able and it sounds like this per­son feels full of remorse and that just makes me sad.

    That said, the sen­ti­ment is a pro­found one…there is no rea­son to live life with fear. Life is meant to be enjoyed so enjoy it!
    .-= Nadia — Happy Lotus´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Happy Lotus Diaries Begin – Please Share Your Thoughts =-.

  22. Davina says:

    Hi Lance. And it’s never too late to start! Funny… just last night I was think­ing about high school and the things I would have done dif­fer­ently if I’d not been so shy; cheer­lead­ing, news­pa­per editor/photographer and drama club, etc. Can’t go back and do it over, but a per­son can make changes today.
    .-= Davina´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..A Yogi Twists A Busi­ness Pitch =-.

  23. Hi Lance! Thanks for post­ing this quote/photo today.

    When I read, “If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have,” it really struck a chord in me. I was reminded of a time when every­thing I owned fit in my hatch­back car (in my 20s) and how free I felt. I moved so many times in my 20s with just my car load of stuff. I never felt like I didn’t have “enough.” But, of course, as life goes on many of us start acquir­ing things. This quote made me think about how I really don’t need or want the “things.” I think Scott and I pretty low on the “stuff” scale, but, I think I’m just say­ing that I some­times miss the free­dom I had of mov­ing through life with bare-minimum amount of possessions.

    I enjoy com­ing here every week to get a men­tal jump start. Thanks for lend­ing me the jumper cables, Lance! :)
    .-= Lori | Jane Be Nimble´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Front Porch: Pearl’s Wid­som =-.

  24. Lance…I spent a bit of Sat­ur­day (with my newly bro­ken leg) so excited for Sunday’s quote and it does not dis­ap­point! This quote found me many years ago…and as I reflect I think it was one of the step­ping stones that led to where I am at this moment. I have always fol­lowed my bliss. From ski bum­ming to sail­ing oceans all over, to lov­ing with aban­don, to fire­side star­lit con­ver­sa­tions, to trav­el­ing cross coun­try sleep­ing in my pick up truck. I feel grate­ful to have been guided from such an early age as to what is impor­tant.
    Have you read Richard Bach’s Illu­sions? In the book, he meets his future self and this self takes him up in a plane and shows him how his life can take many dif­fer­ent paths like a river depend­ing what deci­sion he makes in each moment. It has always guided me to think…what do I want my life’s river to feel like, look like and be like.

    So far the ride is sweet, rapids (and bro­ken legs) and all.
    Katie
    .-= Katie West/The Lev­ity Coach´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..And End Your Week Even Bet­ter! =-.

  25. Great Sun­day thought. It reminds me of Leo Tolstoy’s the death of Ivan Ilyich. On his death bed, the char­ac­ter turns to his wife and says what if my whole life has been wrong.

    Those are pro­found words that inspire me to live my life more com­pletely in the only moment I have, the present. Enjoy the series of moments and carpe diem.
    .-= Elliot Lozano´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Change the World & Make Your­self Nat­u­rally Hap­pier with 1 Lit­tle Book =-.

  26. Hi Lance,
    Great quote, thank you for shar­ing it. This is a tool I use when I get too wound up about the to do list and the sched­ule, etc. I pic­ture who I want to be when I’m 80 or even when I’m 60 or 50 or 40…that quickly brings my actions back into align­ment and puts things quickly into per­spec­tive. I want to be quoted at 85 telling you I had good times and that I wouldn’t trade a sin­gle moment for any­thing. Thanks and have a great hol­i­day week!! Jodi
    .-= Jodi at Joy Discovered´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..For­give­ness, Let­ting Go, and Free­dom =-.

  27. 85 years of wis­dom there that we could all take heed of. A great reminder to live like we mean it, pri­ori­tise what’s impor­tant and stop to smell the daisies. Thanks Lance!
    .-= Sami — Life, Laughs & Lemmings´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Kick Arse Ques­tion – A Smile a Day =-.

  28. Wilma Ham says:

    Every time when I have said ‘yes’ to an adven­ture I have NEVER EVER regret­ted it.
    Funny that.
    When­ever I have said ‘no’, I have regret­ted it.
    As long as I keep say­ing ‘yes’ as the adven­tures are get­ting big­ger, I am alright.
    I have seen 82 years old going ocean sail­ing, I cur­rently see an 87 year old still doing com­mu­nity work and grap­pling with a new com­puter, he is blind!
    All because of the ‘yes’ word, that sim­ple.
    Wilma xox
    .-= Wilma Ham´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Com­mu­nity is dead, long live com­mu­nity =-.

  29. Lance says:

    @Zeenat — Hi Zeenat. When we really think about the words Nadine has shared here, and her thoughts as she nears the end of life on earth — yes, these are surely words to LIVE around. Now! And yes, isn’t that pic­ture per­fect for this!

    @Suzie — Daisies! It was what I really looked for in a pic­ture, and when I found this with the fun shoes, I knew it was the right pic­ture to go with the quote. Great mes­sage, isn’t it!

    @Dr. Rus — Hi Dr. Rus! Life’s too short to not have any fun along the way. And no bet­ter day than today! Woohoo!!

    @Chris — Hi Chris. I know, when I saw this pic­ture, I just thought it fit this so well! And “moments”…yes, so good to really expe­ri­ence the moments in our life. Some­times I get it…and sometimes…well, this quote is a real help…

    @Laurie — Wow, that’s such a tough ques­tion for me, Lau­rie. If I had life to do over, sure, there are things I would have done dif­fer­ently. Then again, I wouldn’t be where I am today, either. And that’s what makes this ques­tion so hard for me. Maybe I would have taken more art, too. And maybe I would have spent more time devel­op­ing rela­tion­ships… Lau­rie, that’s such a deep ques­tion. Maybe bet­ter for me, is to focus on what I can do with the time I have left here. And Lau­rie, also know that I think what you have done with your fam­ily is wonderful…so even if you would have done things dif­fer­ently, know that I am so impressed by all that you have done.

    @Tom — Mak­ing more mistakes…sounds so easy on paper. In real life…hmmm…doesn’t always come across quite so eas­ily. I’m not sure where you are on that mis­take con­tin­uüm, but I’m sure you are liv­ing care­free! And that’s so great to witness!!

    @Joanna — Hi Joanna. You know, it’s really good for me to hear too. Know that the small stuff and the big stuff…there are peo­ple there who care. I care. YOU are awe­some and amaz­ing (I know this!)…just always remem­ber that.

  30. This is one quote that has made a last­ing impact in my life. I remem­ber read­ing it when I was very young, and I have decided to seize each moment ever since. I have just resigned from a job now, but I have signed in to free­dom and to doing more of those things that make life mean­ing­ful. Wish me luck! :)
    .-= I TAKE OFF THE MASK´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Is Retire­ment Your Life’s Goal? =-.

  31. Lance says:

    @Stacey Ship­man — Okay…a water bot­tle and some fruit…they are pretty much win­ners in my book (so, you are off the hook!!)! So, sure there is the whole appro­pri­ate­ness fac­tor — although oth­er­wise, why not have fun and be a bit silly. Which, by the way, is giv­ing me an idea…(scary, I know!). Now…what to have for din­ner (ice cream or beans, ice cream or beans??).

    @Walter — Yes, the word “if” does sig­nify that we may have wanted things dif­fer­ently. When we can live with using that word less, all the better…

    @Darren — And that’s a great point you make, Dar­ren. Our mis­takes might some­times seem like they are hold­ing us back. Are they really though, espe­cially if we take some­thing from them? Per­haps not. Per­haps we gain much from our mis­takes, if we can see beyond them to what can be. And there really is so much to be grate­ful for, when we take the time to stop and se it all. Awe­some thoughts!

    @Lynn — What a great thing that your neice is doing! How fun! And it’s a reminder that fun is what we make it — work can be fun!! A great thought to remem­ber (and work toward!).

    @Karl — Hey, what that is, Karl, is you being real. And shar­ing it here openly, for every­one to read. And in doing that, you help oth­ers to real­ize they are not the only ones who have felt this way. And look how it all turned out…wonderfully! And even if for some rea­son it didn’t, the thing is…life goes on. And some day our paths will cross, and it will be a great time had by everyone!

    @Tess — Tess, it sounds like your life is filled with silly and fun (how cool is that!). Worry, though…it’s that thing that some­times sticks around in our brains (I know!!). So, I’m tak­ing a les­son from you and Joanna too…less worry, more silly!

    @Lisis — Lisis, from every­thing I’ve wit­nessed in how you live your life, you are doing a won­der­ful job of teach­ing your son about the impor­tance of really LIVING life. Flip flops? Well…I’m done wear­ing them for the year (but I did wear shorts here in Wis­con­sin today!). And that he doesn’t live by the stan­dard rules is pretty darn awe­some, if you ask me! In fact, I really don’t think you live by any sort of stan­dard rules either…and I’m so, so moved by all that you have done in recent months. Lisis, you are a beau­ti­ful soul…

  32. Lance says:

    @Lori — I know! Here’s to liv­ing life so that when we’re all 85, our mes­sage is that we’ve lived life as we wanted to…deep down wanted to… Thanks for being here today, Lori.

    @Suzen — Hi Suzen. If we can take the words that Nadine has shared, and LIVE them, then yes — this is such a great quote. It does mean that these words have to be more than just words on paper, they have to become part of our liv­ing soul. And Suzen…I think that’s so awe­some that you are get­ting out there and being silly! Let’s all add just a lit­tle more child-like won­der to our days…sounds like a sweet place to be!

    @Jannie — Yep! The older I get, the more expe­ri­ences mean to me. It becomes about the moments we have — the mun­dane to the wildly excit­ing — they are all part of that thing we call our life. Sillywise…I think you are doing way bet­ter than fairly well! You are rockin’ the house when it comes to silly!! Oh, and nice work on the bean reduc­tion plan!

    @Jay — It is a great phi­los­o­phy for life — Nadine has it fig­ured out. And hope­fully we can all learn a thing or two from her, and see life through a slightly dif­fer­ent lens!

    @Linda Abbit — Hi Linda. It’s so good to see you today!! “Wasted worrying”…what a great term to describe what we do way too much of. And your com­ment of Amer­i­cans vs. other parts of the world makes me won­der. Here we are liv­ing in America…worrying, while there are peo­ple from far less for­tu­nate places in the world…who are just happy with what they have. Hmm…who’s a lit­tle off-base here, any­way??? (great thoughts!)

    @Megan — Hi Megan. Know that your com­ment here today is touch­ing me very deeply. I guess, in a way, what I put out here — I’m never sure how deeply it is taken by oth­ers. Your words today, Megan, give me faith in what I am doing. You are an amaz­ing per­son, the way you share so won­der­fully and authen­ti­cally of your­self. I am hum­bled by what you are say­ing, and know that I an hon­ored at how you have read these words today. Namaste, my friend…

    @Nadia — Hi Nadia. I do very much under­stand the sad­ness you are feel­ing. It’s as though Nadine has regrets about the life she lived. And we can’t go back into the past. What we really have is the NOW. When we real­ize this, it’s then that we can really and truly start to live our life. That is the pro­found part here…for each of us, wher­ever we are on that jour­ney — to start now, to live life…really live it. Nadia, thanks so much for being here today…

  33. Lance says:

    @Davina — Hi Davina. As long as we’re still alive and kicking…then there’s no time like the present! And we can all prob­a­bly think of some­thing we might have done dif­fer­ently were we to go back in time. We can’t, though. We have now, though…and that’s the per­fect place to start!

    @Lori — Hi Lori! It’s great to see your smil­ing face! What you are shar­ing is such an inter­est­ing thought, and has me going back, too, to ear­lier days. Days when pos­ses­sion were few, and expe­ri­ences were many. And Lori, I think that you really do get this. I do. I think of what I know of you, and it all just fits this so well. You have done some pretty great things, and I know there are more on your horizon…however you define great. And know that I’m here to expe­ri­ence what you are doing too…as a friend… Lori, thank you for shin­ing your light into my world!

    @Katie — Katie… I’m still think­ing of you with your newly bro­ken leg (how is that, by the way?)…and how you still bring sun­shine right along with it. (is this a spe­cial skill you teach?) And you know, as I read your com­ment today, I can only smile. Your spirit is so deeply (I really like that word!) con­nected to YOU. And I love that. How you have lived your life, and how you are liv­ing your life today — signs of what some might say is a lit­tle crazy. And I say so too…I say it, though, with great admi­ra­tion. Crazy Katie’s is just what this world needs more of. Maybe “they” might say you see true north a lit­tle dif­fer­ently that most. I say that the true north you are see­ing, is a guid­ing pres­ence to what can be, to true liv­ing, and to an amaz­ing life! YOU! Katie!! Oh…and you had a ques­tion too. No, I have not read “Illu­sions”. when I think of paths, though, I think of how there really can be so many dif­fer­ent paths we take along the way, and no one path is the right path. Although, if we’re not fol­low­ing our soul…there can cer­tainly be wrong paths. Keep rid­ing that path of your soul, sweet friend…

    @Elliot — Think­ing of life as being “wrong”, those are hard words to swal­low. And when we really think about it…now is the time to sieze the moment…it’s all we really have for sure.

    @Jodi — Hi Jodi. Jump­ing ahead and envi­sion­ing life at an older age — I like it! I like it because it gets us think­ing about where we are today in rela­tion to where we might like to see our­selves at some future date. Of course, there are no guar­an­tees that we’ll get to that spot in life — to a ripe old age of 80. Still, though, in think­ing about that, it sets in motion, if we allow it, our life to go in the direc­tions we choose. And that’s a great place to be headed toward, espe­cially when those are guided by our heart. And Jodi, you and your fam­ily too — have a great hol­day week!

    @Sami — Hey Sami!! Crazy dri­ver (can I call you that?!?!?)!! And hey, now I’m think­ing as I write this — about you and the Daisy List! How fit­ting! And really it is fit­ting because I know that you are liv­ing life! And that is so, so awesome!!

    @Wilma — I know! I love adven­tures! It’s what makes life so grand. Not the money, not the extra tv in the house, not the extra car in the garage. It’s the peo­ple and the adven­tures that make life grand! And hav­ing you here is part of that, Wilma. You shine won­der­ful light into my world!

    @Jocelyn — That’s awe­some, that you have been liv­ing this for a long time! And good luck to you, and to all the future holds! You can do amaz­ing things! Keep on believ­ing in you…always…

  34. Evelyn Lim says:

    A lovely quote to start my week with greater spon­tani­ety, free­dom and fun! I am look­ing for­ward to liv­ing life more on the edge! Thanks for the excel­lent reminder!
    .-= Eve­lyn Lim´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Exposed!…Personal Devel­op­ment Fraud? =-.

  35. I needed this. At times I feel like it’d be so much eas­ier to just stay in my home town, work on my busi­ness, and live my days by the beach. And while that’s cer­tainly not a bad life, I know I need to push myself to travel the world, which is some­thing I’ve been want­ing to do for years (I only fin­ished high school last year, so it just wasn’t pos­si­ble before), but is some­thing that’s easy to put off.

    The prob­lems I face though aren’t myself stop­ping me from going. I have the money, the desire, and a rel­a­tive level of glo­ri­ous youth­ful igno­rance, but 1/2 of my fam­ily are fear­ful of me glo­be­trot­ting solo, which seems like the only option at this point because none of my friends have the desire nor money to be over­seas at all, let alone for an extended period of time (4–5+ months).

    I under­stand where their fears are com­ing from, which is why I haven’t rebelled (yet) but per­haps I should for­ward this to them.
    .-= David Turnbull´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..33 Rules of Per­sis­tence: How To Stick With It, Be Patient and Achieve Your Goals =-.

  36. Lance, thank you for shar­ing this. I really needed to hear it because some­days I get so busy with life that I for­get to enjoy LIFE!

    I hope you have a won­der­ful Thanks­giv­ing!
    .-= Diane Fit to the Finish´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Oper­a­tion Christ­mas Child =-.

  37. Angelia Sims says:

    Great quote, Lance. No regrets, no hold­ing back, no what ifs…Just be, do, and live.

    I may not get it right, exactly, but I sure try to. I’m smil­ing and radi­at­ing. :-)
    .-= Angelia Sims´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sleep Sweet =-.

  38. J.D. Meier says:

    I think think­ing in moments really puts things in perspective.

    The one com­mon theme I hear about life and regrets is that it’s the things you don’t do that you regret.
    .-= J.D. Meier´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..What 16 Movies Can Teach Us About Life and Lead­er­ship =-.

  39. Hi Lance,

    Another beau­ti­ful quote. I love the part that says. “…Just moments, one after another, instead of liv­ing so many years ahead of each day.…” Too often we’re so intent on where we want our life to go, we for­get to live each day fully.

    Thank you for the reminder to live in the moment and let the future unfold as it may.

    Have a great week, Lance.
    .-= Bar­bara Swafford´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..I Don’t Get It =-.

  40. Marelisa says:

    Hi Lance: I have that quote on my squidoo lens on cre­at­ing your bucket list. We have to grab life by the horns. :-)

  41. BK says:

    Beau­ti­ful and enlight­en­ing quote! The one rea­son which I love quo­ta­tions is that there are always so much wis­dom we can learn from quo­ta­tions.
    .-= BK´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Thanks­giv­ing by Edgar Albert Guest =-.

  42. Lance says:

    @Evelyn — Hi Eve­lyn. Yes, when we can bring in more spon­tani­ety and fun to our daily liv­ing, what a great place of right­ness this puts us in!

    @David Turn­bull — Step­ping out­side of the bound­aries we have (whether phys­i­cal or psy­co­log­i­cal) can be chal­leng­ing. It’s in step­ping out, though, that we see and expe­ri­ence all that can be. Not that it will all be roses and sun­shine. Still, though, it’s where life is lived…when we lis­ten to our heart and love life! So, David, I say to you — lis­ten to your heart. It knows…

    @Diane — Hey, I hear you Diane…me too! Some days seem like they are gone, and it was a mat­ter of just going through the motions. And there’s not much enjoy­ment in that. So, for both of us — this is a great mes­sage to hear and let really soak in…

    @Angelia — You know, Angelia…I’m not sure any of us get it exactly right…or then maybe we all do. It’s just a mat­ter of what our per­spec­tive is, and where we are in life. And you DO radi­ate!! So, I think you are doing this so, so well!!

    @J.D. Meier — Right on…what we end up regret­ting is what we didn’t do. It’s so easy to say that…and think that there’s always time, that our days are many yet. The truth is, though, that we don’t really know…and so today is the day to live!

    @Barbara — Hi Bar­bara. Wow, it’s powerful…these words. Liv­ing for the future, that’s not really liv­ing at all then…if we are miss­ing out on some­thing now. Thank you, Bar­bara, for high­light­ing that par­tic­u­lar line — it’s one that is so good for me to hear again and again… And you too, have a won­der­ful week and happy Thanksgiving!

    @Marelisa — Hi Mare. Hey, we think alike!! That’s pretty awe­some! So…here’s to bucket lists and quotes that get us think­ing more deeply about the moments in our life!

    @BK — Yes, quotes can have so much beauty and truth in them, and this one is no excep­tion. Thanks for stop­ping by today!

  43. Mindful Mimi says:

    Lance,
    I have read her book years ago. And she made me think a lot about my grandma (who had 15 kids, lived through 2 wars, ran a farm and died at age 93). I think my grandma could have writ­ten that book. I think it is a wake­up­call, a mes­sage from the old and wise. I think we should all pick more daisies. I try!
    M
    .-= Mind­ful Mimi´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sun­day laugh =-.

  44. Evita says:

    Inter­est­ing and very inspir­ing Lance!

    I am really happy at this point with my choices, and for the most part have no regrets…but some­thing like this always offers a way to stay open to the oppor­tu­ni­ties in life, not to close our­selves off, be too strict with any­thing, be smart, but still enjoy life to the fullest!

    Thank you and a happy week to you!
    .-= Evita´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Essen­tial Energy with Cyndi Dale: Beyond the Golden Rule =-.

  45. Lisa's Chaos says:

    Yeah, me too. I was way too seri­ous for way too long. :)
    .-= Lisa’s Chaos´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Lov­ing Life =-.

  46. Hilary says:

    Hi Lance .. I hadn’t seen that quote .. seems like I’ve been hid­ing in a closet: but it is won­der­ful and now I know about it — thank you. It’s sim­i­lar to the old lady wear­ing a pur­ple hat .. just do what you want .. and enjoy life to the full.

    We do get stuck in the ruts cre­ated by soci­ety — fam­ily, job, career etc .. there’s more to explore — I would hope that in today’s age there’s more oppor­tu­nity to get up and go, to try new things and see new places .. we’re not embark­ing on explo­ration of the Cana­dian north, or the heart­land of Asia — now those were some peo­ples with poi­neer­ing spirits ..

    I’m going to be bare­foot later into the Autumn .. and be sparkly at Christ­mas ..
    .-= Hilary´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..What is a Per­sian Palette…? Turquoise, Sea­green, Magenta … =-.

  47. Tim says:

    Lance:

    What an awe­some quote!…ah, the mak­ing of mis­takes part really res­onated with me. We live in a world where, it seems, per­fec­tion is a goal in life. Heck, I have often tried or looked for per­fec­tion at times in my life and have steered away from mis­takes. Its time to really re-think what a “mis­take” is. Thanks for get­ting us off to a great start to the week!
    .-= Tim´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Week­end Video Diver­sion: The Orang­utan and the Hound =-.

  48. Hilda says:

    Hi Lance,

    love this quote. It reflects how I try to live my life these days, though I can also relate to the per­son who wor­ried too much. That used to be me, über-worrier! Not so now :-) But I still bring my hot water bot­tle every­where I go!!
    .-= Hilda´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..As within, so with­out =-.

  49. patricia says:

    Enjoyed the quote life story. Thank you
    Work­ing very hard to regain my life right now and get back to the silly and grate­ful moments of living.

    I have eaten a life­time of beans and they do not agree with me.…nor dairy. I am giv­ing up regrets and worry — and prac­tic­ing silly and let­ting go to release…hard work after so many years of prac­tic­ing “self-discipline in always inad­e­quate mode”

    Hey! I just pub­lished an e book fundraiser for UNICEF at mid­night last night…Who’d of thunk it possible!

    *smil­ing* now with a gig­gle uprising…

  50. I have to be hon­est. I wouldn’t do any­thing dif­fer­ent. It all got me right where I am right now…not that I didn’t make poor choices at times…but over all…I feel pretty con­fi­dent that I have lived my life the way I was meant to. Does this sound like am puffed up and proud? That’s not my inten­tion. Just sat­is­fied. Happy. Took me 44 years (and many indi­vid­ual moments) to real­ize this, but I get it NOW. My life is good, not per­fect, but very, very good.

    may we all feel sat­is­fied and blessed today and every day.
    Laura
    .-= Laura Hegfield´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..New Moun­tains to Climb: MRI –Tysabri Adven­ture Week­end =-.

  51. Love the quote, Lance. Excel­lent advice, to let go, to stop wor­ry­ing, to stop think­ing about what oth­ers might think about us, to take risks and just have more fun. Great way to start my week, thanks!
    .-= Extreme Fit­ness Blog´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Guest Post: 5 Exer­cises That Show You’re in Peak Con­di­tion =-.

  52. Keith says:

    Hello Lance!

    I really am lov­ing the quote you have shared here. Ear­lier in my life I was liv­ing a life much like what Nadine speaks of here. I was the prac­ti­cal one, sen­si­ble, and always very cau­tious. Now, I haven’t for­saken wis­dom but I def­i­nitely have “relaxed” myself very much. I live with an aware­ness of LIFE , and all the fun and beauty it offers! I have not per­fected this how­ever, and I con­sis­tently work to expand this aware­ness. When I am in that “zone” I am at my hap­pi­est, have more peace and fun; I am more cre­ative and bet­ter equipped to deal with what­ever life presents to me.

    Thank you Lance!
    .-= Keith´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Choose Your Path! =-.

  53. Lance says:

    @Mimi — Def­i­nitely a wake up call! No mat­ter where we are…it’s good to think about how we are really view­ing life and liv­ing. I’m there with you…picking those daisies!

    @Evita — And Evita, I really believe that you are out there, “liv­ing” life! You shine at this, and just hav­ing you here makes me think about things at a dif­fer­ent level…so, so good…

    @Lisa’s Chaos — Today, though, you are in a good place, aren’t you. A good place for really liv­ing the moments of your life. It’s great to wit­ness this in you, Lisa!

    @Hilary — Hi Hilary. And that’s right…do what feels good and right to YOU! Who cares what every­one else thinks, if you are happy…that’s what mat­ters!! Sparkly sea­son is upon us!!!

    @Tim — Hi Tim. I know…I’ve been there too — focus­ing way too much on per­fec­tion, and not enough on just being in the moment. Being okay with mistakes…and see­ing them as build­ing blocks for some­thing greater — that can be hard too — but a great place to get to.

    @Hilda — Hi Hilda. Yes! Let’s say “good bye” to worry!! I’m lov­ing it too!!

    @Patricia — I’m there with you on bring­ing more “silly” into our days — it’s fun AND feels good! And con­grat­u­la­tions on teh e-book!! Woohoo!!! Let the gig­gles out!

    @Laura — What a great place to be at! There’s some­thing very com­fort­ing about see­ing our life as one that is good. And whether we can do that for today, or for our life­time, or some­thing in between — when­ever we are at that spot in our life…things just feel right. So good to read this Laura!

    @Extreme Fit­ness Blog — Let­ting go of some of that worry, and just tak­ing some of those risks that are deep in our hearts…what a great place to get to!

    @Keith — Hi Keith. “Aware­ness of LIFE”…I love that Keith! What a great thought, and what a great aware­ness to have. Keep on shin­ing, Keith!!

  54. Jenn Z says:

    Lance, this is beau­ti­ful! Thanks for shar­ing! I love how the pic goes so well with the quote! :) very free-spirited! I am learn­ing to ‘make more mis­takes’ as I exper­i­ment with the joy of liv­ing! Happy Thanks­giv­ing!! much luv, Jenn
    .-= Jenn Z´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Dis­cov­er­ing Life and Walk­ing on Water,… =-.

  55. WOW! What a timely quote. Since I’ve turned 40(ish) I’ve been hav­ing trou­ble with the thought that I’m one the down hill slide. Already fret­ting over things I didn’t do, or ah, shouldn’t have done. This quote reminds me that I just need to live, enjoy, relax, be sil­lier! All things I wish I could just…be, nat­u­rally. Worry is like a vine. It grows and as it grows up your legs it attaches itself to you and it winds and weaves it’s way all up and down you. It binds you and restricts your move­ments. Entan­gles you and traps you. If there was one thing I could change about myself today it would be to lose the worry and replace it with freedom.

    Great quote Lance! Thanks so much for post­ing it!

  56. Lance says:

    @Jenn Z — I love this photo too!! And here’s to mak­ing more mis­takes along the way…it means we are tak­ing more chances at really liv­ing life!

    @Natalia — “Worry is like a vine.”…Natalia, that is so, so true! And so well-said. If we let worry take over, it just grows and grows. I too get caught up some­times in worry, and when I do — it holds me back. So, here’s to let­ting go of some of that worry, and liv­ing in the moments of our life!

  57. Audra Krell says:

    My grandma used to save EVERYTHING for a bet­ter day. In her small home, she would hide stuff from her­self. A year later she’d find a box of rot­ten choco­lates, ined­i­ble and never enjoyed. She saved all her clothes and the good dishes. Then she died young (66) and lit­er­ally never got to use her things. I’ve used the good dishes, ate all the choco­lates and worn the dressy clothes daily, ever since.
    .-= Audra Krell´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..A Novel Idea =-.

  58. Rose says:

    What a beau­ti­ful quote. we’ve all often said if only I had my life to live over, but real­ity is that life makes us who we are. I wouldn’t want to live my life over, because each mis­take, each trial, each happy moment makes me.
    .-= Rose´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..How to add a retweet but­ton to your blog­ger blog-Tweetmeme =-.

  59. Lance says:

    @Audra — Audra, that’s a les­son worth remem­ber­ing, for sure. We don’t know how long life will be, for any of us. So, let’s live that life…now. And you are, and that’s so good to hear. I think I’m going to find myself a piece of choco­late right now. And…I just fin­ished a glass of choco­late milk!!

    @Rose — We are who we are because of all the life expe­ri­ences we’ve had up until this point. And yes, we would be some­body a bit dif­fer­ent with dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ences. And who knows what that would mean. What we can con­trol, though, are the choices we make going for­ward… And that is where I really see the beauty in this quote… Thanks much, Rose!

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