Life. People. Purpose. Meaning. What's Important?

I'm here.

Can you hear me?

The silence is deafening.

Does it make a difference whether I write or not? I would like to think that it does. Maybe, just maybe, my words will mean something to someone.

Words. They can mean so many different things. Hope. Anger. Joy. Sadness. Contentment. The list is long. Much longer than the space I have here.

Life is a hectic, busy mess. Seeing friends, both old and new. Conversations, some involving tears. Others that make me so happy that I can't help but smile.

Often, there are times when I'm just done. I don't want to have anything to do with this world or the people in it. It's too hard. But sometimes, I'm able to see the beauty of life. Though there are times when it is so hard to just keep moving forward, that makes those precious moments and memories so much sweeter.

Life is not just about me. I've known that for a long time. But I think that I've only fully begun to understand just what that means when you live it out. It involves going out of your way to make a difference in the lives of the people around you. Sometimes that's as simple as sending a text to someone, showing him or her that you care and you're thinking of them. Other times it takes a little more effort. Like taking time out of your day to talk to someone who's struggling. Or spending some money to make another person's day. It takes effort. It's hard. But the results are so worth it.

It is so much more important to understand that what you do matters. Especially since life isn't about you...or me. It really matters. Every action you take has some effect on those around you. There's no way around it. What you do matters. So find what's important to you. What is your purpose? Find those things that fulfill your purpose and bring meaning into your life. Once you find them, pursue them. Don't pursue them halfheartedly. PURSUE THEM. Chase them. If it takes doing something that you don't enjoy for the time being to get to what you do enjoy. Do it. If it takes letting go of some things in order to spend time on what's actually important to you. Do it. Don't wait. Nothing's going to change until you make a move.

Plenty of people talk about waiting for an answer from God before making a move to follow or pursue some dream. I'm not against that. There's a time and a place for that. For sure. But more often than not I find that we need to make the first move before we get an answer from God. Let's say that you're in the driver's seat of a car. God is the steering wheel to lead you in the right direction. You have to press the gas pedal in order for God to steer you in the right direction. The steering wheel is useless until the car is moving. You can't tell which direction you're headed until you start to move. And maybe there will be a time that you'll head in the wrong direction. That's entirely possible. In fact, it is probable. For that, I can tell you only one thing. God is great at redirecting. He will make sure that you are following the plan that he has for your life even though you can't see it. He knows your purpose backward and forwards. He's not going to let you go down the wrong path forever.

G Paige

Time slips by...

Whoa. We're almost in March. I feel like this year has barely begun and it's already so far into it. It's really weird thinking about it. And it's even worse thinking about how I've only posted once on my blog since the new year began. Don't ask me how that happened. I have no excuses. Be happy that I am here now and not into whatever I have been into these past few weeks. I think there are times when I'm at a lost as to what I've been doing.

I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few weeks...months. And a lot of purposefully not thinking. When I think, I overthink. Usually, that turns into stress or anxiety or this feeling of being overwhelmed. When it gets like that, I just need a break from my brain.

Personally, I've probably been more busy than I've been in a very long time. Being responsible for a lot more things than I am usually responsible for has good and bad side effects. And while I can handle it if I take it one step at a time, a lot of the time I tend to think of everything all at once and it is nerve racking.

But recent events have brought something up to the surface of my mind. Something that I know and understand, but something that I also need to remind myself of. It's that time is short. There are so many instances where we feel like time goes by so slowly. It feels like honey, pouring out of a jar. Slow. In reality, time moves at the same pace that it always has. Nothing changes. When you think about it in reality, it's only your perspective that makes the time seem to go faster or slower. And looking at it in context of the many, many years that you'll spend in eternity, this life here on Earth is nothing. It's barely a taste of what's to come.

So you've heard time is short. Maybe you've heard it over and over again. You've become numb to the phrase because you have heard it so much. But think about it. Really, really think about it. People die. Just like that and they are gone. They're a breath of wind. They quickly come and just as quickly go. It's terrifying, knowing that someone could leave this world at any moment.

We shouldn't allow our fear about the death affect our way of life, at least, in a bad way. This fear shouldn't motivate us into inaction. I believe that this knowledge can motivate us in a good way. In a way that requires us to live our lives to the fullest, to live without regrets.

The time that we have here is precious. Let's not waste it. Time slips through our fingers like sand. It won't be here forever. I don't want to look back at my life with regret. I know that there will be things that I will look back on and wished that I could change, but I want that kept that to a minimum. When I look at my life as a whole, I want to be glad that I lived the way that I did. Don't you feel the same?

G Paige