This Is Living

Mesmerized by the shallow turquoise crystal clear waters as they sweep the powder soft white sand shore over and over again, admiring the myriads of blues and greens as the coral just beneath the surface colors the clear ocean, relaxing on one of the top rated beaches in the world, I sit and think about how this is living. Repelling down an 80 foot waterfall and zip-ling through the rainforest, I think about how this is living. Watching the sun slowly sink in the azure blue sky littered by fluffy white clouds from between the swaying palm trees, kayaking through a pitch black labyrinth of trees, savoring the view over the inky black bay of the planetarium-like night sky awash with twinkling stars and bright constellations, swimming in the warm ocean with the tropical electric blue, purple, and yellow fish and orange and yellow coral...this is living.

Still on a high from reveling in these captivating nifla'os ha'boreh, I think about how so often we experience the world in black and white. We let so much grime build up on the lenses through which we see the world that we're no longer really living; we're grinding. We lock ourselves in this cage and beat at it repeatedly, trying fruitlessly to get out, never realizing that the door is not locked.

Especially at this stage in life, it's not difficult to fall into this mindset that we need a spouse to feel good, to move forward, to feel successful. There is so much in this life besides for that. There's a whole world out there, and it was created for us. It's not just about having a relationship/getting married (which is great, but we don't control when that's going to happen). When you're stuck just surviving, it's easy to feel like you need something to save you from the daily grind, but that is why it is so important to go and see and do and experience the world in whichever way speaks to you. Nature, travel, activities...is my thing. What's yours?