It’s a new year! I am grateful for the chance to start fresh in 2016. I know that you can start fresh in small ways anytime, but as the new year began, I was reminded that I needed to change my outlook in order to move forward in ways that I need to this year. I know this may surprise you. My blog is called “Looking for the Rainbows,” after all. And I do seek out and enjoy positivity, but in certain areas of my life I have let my fears figuratively paralyze me. So, this year I will be working on being more courageous. Let me share a couple things that helped reignite this desire in me. I hope that they will be helpful to my readers as well.
I discovered an amazing song called “This Life.” It was written and performed by Nick Neel, a teenager who wrote it as a reminder to himself to work hard and use his time wisely so that he can live up to his potential. In an article about the song, Nick wrote, “Ranking up in video games, burying our heads in our phones, or updating our social status take time away from the good we can do. Instead, we should use this time to help others and improve ourselves.” (Full Article) “What will we do with it?” is one of the ultimate questions of this life. As we strive to “make every second count” and “make sure we’re where we belong,” our lives will be more fulfilling. I love how Nick pauses between “make” and “every second count” to emphasize that line, which he calls “the essence of the song.” I love all the lyrics, but especially the chorus:
This life is a matter of time.
We’ve only got so much ‘til we leave it behind.
What will we do with it?
What are we doing with, with
This life won’t last very long,
So we should make sure we’re where we belong.
What will we do with it?
What are we doing with this life?
There’s a reason that, often, the best lyrics are in the chorus. In this case, the repetition is wonderful. Those are thought-provoking lyrics, reminding us that life is short and precious, which can be a scary thought, but it can also motivate you to make the most of it. The 228 seconds you spend listening to this song will be some of the best you’ve ever spent! For me, it’s been way more than 228 seconds because I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve listened to it. Listen to the song below and check out the video description to read all the lyrics.
I’ve also been inspired recently by re-watching the movie The Princess Diaries. Mia, an awkward teenager whose expectation in life is to be invisible, finds out she has royal blood and is the heir to the throne of Genovia. But she is fearful and initially reluctant to claim the throne. To avoid having to give a speech renouncing her title, she makes plans to run away. Before she runs away, however, she reads a letter from her father, which gives her the courage to be crowned a princess and to give a speech announcing that decision. Her father’s letter offers this wisdom:
“Amelia, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all. From now on, you’ll be traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be. The key is to allow yourself to make the journey.” (Emphasis Mine)
As you’ve probably noticed, this quote is also in the picture at the top of the post (although I can’t take any credit for the picture, which I found by doing a search on Google Images). I’ve always loved the quote, but on my most recent re-watch of the movie, the last two sentences jumped out at me. Whatever point we’re at in our lives right now, there are things we can improve upon to become better. “Who we are” and “who we can be” are two different things that we hopefully bring closer and closer together as we go through life. But just because time has passed doesn’t mean we’ve gained anything automatically. Rather, we need to allow ourselves to make that journey of improvement. It takes work, and the result may not be as obvious or as black-and-white as graduating Magna cum Laude from college, but if you are making the journey of improvement, you’ll probably be surprised when you look back and realize how far you’ve come. Even if most of your improvements are a series of small “personal victories” that very few others would get excited about (like mine!), those add up. Puzzles are put together one piece at a time (and in the puzzles my younger brother does, the pieces are so small), and I think we as people are like that. By working on various pieces of ourselves, one at a time, eventually we can become a completed puzzle.
We’re all on a journey in this life. As another song says, “It ain’t about how fast I get there. / It ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side. / It’s the climb.” I encourage all of my readers (and especially myself) to keep working on your puzzle pieces, appreciate the time you have, and keep climbing in 2016 and beyond!
Looking for the Rainbows 