It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sea breeze whips through my hair as we sit together, sipping on our coffee. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I can smell the salty breeze, the faint, somewhat pleasant smell of fish in the air, barking in the distance, and giggling from little toddlers running with their parents. I smile, sitting there in complete silence as I hold my husband’s hand.
This is my paradise.
Over the last few weeks, Florida has been a peaceful return to some normalcy. There are no more homeless camps behind our parking lot, no more horrible altitude pains and aches…it feels like a bright new beginning. I’m returning to some of the same comforts that we left behind and new surprises that are another new adventure for us to uncover. Over the last few weeks, I have also been reflecting on how to embrace it all: the chaos, the positives, and even the challenging and challenging periods of our lives.
Embracing all that life offers is terrifying and often difficult for us. We want to have the rose-colored lenses and the happy sunshine-filled days, but that is not the truth. Not all of life is meant to be full of the high, positive, and beautiful aesthetics that we might desire. We have to have a balance. Life is all about the balance of the lows and the highs.
I don’t believe there is a potential to make mistakes in this life. I think some choices affect us in different ways, and the people we encounter influence us. If there is a guidebook to “doing life right,” someone can tell me. But, I have yet to find one. And I have found, for myself, that seeing life as needing to make the best choices possible always leaves me with riddled guilt, sadness, and the would, should, and could have scenarios that haunt me at the worst of times.
Embracing life with open arms is about seeing the bright side of life. It’s about reflecting, taking a lesson with you, and seeing that some things can be horrible. Still, when you are at your lowest, you usually find the sliver of hope that you need to go forward and continue onto the next part of your journey.
All the depressive periods of my life were obviously not fun, but the problematic situations and decisions, losses of unsupportive or hostile influences, and the like were necessary. The depression was a symptom of my need to rise on my own out of the ashes.
The happiest moments were happy because of the contrast to the worst moments and the depression I felt. As a nearly 29-year-old, I can confidently say I don’t regret anything, except there were some things I learned sooner. Some people I wished I hadn’t been associated with for that long, and you know, that kind of thing. We all have our little “if I had known, I would have blank” moments, which is okay. It makes us human. But to fret and worry over what is gone…how can you embrace your life as it is if you choose to do that?
Today and in the future, I embrace the future with open arms. I choose to see the learning and the positives wherever I am, but I’m happy to have made it back to a place that I know is one of my homes. I choose to forgive myself for learning, growing older, not seeing how someone was treating me, and what I said to others. I decide to say sorry, be honest with others, and cultivate positive relationships with those I hold dear and enjoy spending time with.
Embracing life is about letting yourself enjoy every moment. Feel every emotion. Be honest and be real with yourself. Let yourself live a little! We only have so much time on this earth, and the people we know are the people we are meant to invest in, love, and appreciate. We all have something to share, and we are all meant to learn from one another. Those that don’t want to don’t have to have a more significant role in your life, and that’s okay.
Returning to Florida is about embracing all of who I have become and loving my inner child a little bit deeper. Even though I am an adult, I will always be the nature-loving, beach bum mermaid-wanna-be who writes out her fantasies on paper. But unfortunately, I spent too much time worrying about things that didn’t matter in the past. Instead, I invested in people who did not support me as I did them.
It’s time to embrace life for all that it is. It’s time to dive deep into the passion projects, make your wildest dreams happen (because you can), and discover what happiness means. Get creative. Call your loved ones. Spend some time soaking up the sun and get some vital vitamin D.
Even if you lack the motivation for yourself, live life and embrace it to help others embrace their flaws and happy accidents and feel the full scope of what’s possible. We all can make a difference in this world, and sometimes, it starts with investing in ourselves and those around us.
So go and make a change.
Embrace it all.
Let go of whatever fear holds you back.
The time to live is now.
