All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned on Vacation

I loved watching my niece and nephew on the beach. They loved everything. And they ran everywhere, constantly full of excitement. Though I tired after about a dozen turns of setting my niece up to ride waves on her board, she never got tired of it. Each time she rode in a wave, she would run back out to where I was in the ocean to do it all over again, with the same amount of enthusiasm as the first time. It was the same with building sandcastles and playing wiffle baseball too. The beach fascinated them. Just standing in the ocean was "awesome," as they put it over and over again. But, we adults, we're "boring" in their vocab--sitting and reading, riding a few waves here and there, wiping sand off our hands rather than digging with them.

I couldn't help but think about how we get older and suddenly the excitement is gone from things. We use phrases like "I just need to make it through today" or "I survived another week." And I say these things so often. Four weeks ago I couldn't wait to start my new job and tonight I heard myself repeatedly say "I don't want to go to work, but if I can just get past Monday it will be ok."

Where'd the excitement go? Why does the day to day have to be boring? Maybe I just need to change my perspective a bit and realize that if I'm just surviving, I'm missing out--on opportunities, experiences, etc.

I want to get away from the negativity and start being more enthusiastic about each day--about its potential, rather than its obstacles; about who I could meet, rather than who distracts me from checking off my task list. I don't want to survive a lifetime, I want to live it.