{"id":72,"date":"2010-07-07T00:02:09","date_gmt":"2010-07-07T07:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/?p=72"},"modified":"2015-04-26T21:04:33","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T04:04:33","slug":"when-my-life-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/when-my-life-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"When my life begins\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been having deep, serious thoughts about life lately. I came to realize that for the past few years, I have simply been waiting. Waiting for my\u00a0life to begin<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.
\n~Grace Hansen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have just been waiting around to become something else, something more. Waiting around for certain events to happen, or milestones to be reached.\u00a0All the while, thinking I was on the verge of becoming, and only after those moments my life would begin<\/em>. Sadly, each time a milestone passed, another something had to be dealt with, another goal had to be reached, keeping me from beginning my life<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life.\u00a0 But there was always some obstacle in the way.\u00a0 Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.\u00a0 Then life would begin.\u00a0 At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
\n~Fr. Alfred D’Souza<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reading this quote really struck me. It helped me put into words why I felt like such a bystander, just watching the days go by, always waiting for something else to happen to me, some big moment, or waiting to reach the next step in my life. I always seemed to be only one step away – waiting for things like: “when I graduate high school”, or “when I find the perfect girl”, or “when I finish college”.<\/p>\n

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.
\n~Author unknown, sometimes attributed to W.M. Lewis<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, I’m done with college\u00a0now, but I still feel the same as I did while still an undergrad. This all feels so ordinary; there must be something missing. Where’s my\u00a0life I had imagined?\u00a0I guess it must be “after I finish Grad school” or “after I start my career”. Yeah, that’s<\/em> when my life will begin. I just need to finish school and find that perfect job…<\/p>\n

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
\n~John Lennon<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I find it’s all too easy to get caught up in the busyness of life, sticking to some daily routine, letting time pass, just waiting to reach some unknown destination. There is a deceiving connection between how we spend our time, and how little<\/em> time we really have to spend. No, there is no other time than now.<\/p>\n

Don’t be fooled by the calendar.\u00a0 There are only as many days in the year as you make use of.
\n~Charles Richards<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am finding now, in glimpses and flashes, that my life begins each day<\/em>. It is not one Big Moment, but rather a collection of a billion little moments and choices. This is it. Life is now<\/em>. Normal daily life. It is experiencing<\/em> everything that happens in each day.<\/p>\n

As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.
\n~Zachary Scott<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I need to step back more often, and observe the life I have been creating all along<\/em>, without ever realizing it. I need to make the most of each day, and live each moment – cherishing the time spent with friends and family.<\/p>\n

Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.
\n~John Henry Cardinal Newman<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I need to remember that how I\u00a0spend each day, adds up to how I spent my life.<\/p>\n

\n

I will hazard a prediction: When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection, narrating for only yourself, the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be the most compact and\u00a0meaningful,\u00a0will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.
\n~Jeff Bezos<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been having deep, serious thoughts about life lately. I came to realize that for the past few years, I have simply been waiting. Waiting for my\u00a0life to begin. Don\u2019t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. ~Grace Hansen I have just been waiting around to become something … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[42,46,43,235,236],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-inspirational-quotes","tag-life","tag-motivational-quotes","tag-reflection","tag-waiting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pZdXI-1a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1629,"url":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/inspirational-life-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":0},"title":"Some inspirational quotes on life","author":"mcclanahoochie","date":"July 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me..., was the most common regret of all. \u2014 from regrets of the dying. Change is inevitable. It\u2019s not a question of if you\u2019re changing. It\u2019s a question of in which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"inspirational quotes\"","block_context":{"text":"inspirational quotes","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/tag\/inspirational-quotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"inspirationalimages.tk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/logo-300x42.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3130,"url":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/inspirational-images-tk\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":1},"title":"inspirational images .tk","author":"mcclanahoochie","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As mentioned in my previous post, A little book made for you, I'm a fan of inspirational quotes and motivational sayings. Over time, I have collected quite a few bookmarks of the ones that I enjoy. I've decided to create a gallery website dedicated to sharing lots of motivating quotes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"images\"","block_context":{"text":"images","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/tag\/images\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"inspirational images","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/logo-e1577925898213.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/logo-e1577925898213.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/logo-e1577925898213.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/logo-e1577925898213.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1539,"url":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/holstee-manifesto\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":2},"title":"Holstee Manifesto","author":"mcclanahoochie","date":"June 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Some very inspiring quotes about following your passion in life: You can buy this as a nice poster here. \u00a0 Stumbling upon these motivational words couldn't have come at a better time for me... ;-) More thoughts and quotes on life here and here. \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In \"inspirational images\"","block_context":{"text":"inspirational images","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/tag\/inspirational-images\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Holstee Manifesto","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0031\/5352\/files\/The-Holstee-Manifesto.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0031\/5352\/files\/The-Holstee-Manifesto.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0031\/5352\/files\/The-Holstee-Manifesto.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3046,"url":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/book-of-inspirational-quotes-and-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":3},"title":"A little book made for you","author":"mcclanahoochie","date":"April 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is dedicated to my sister Erin. Erin made me a diy scrapbook of inspirational quotes about life, funny images, and some inside jokes. This\u00a0is by far the most thoughtful gift I've ever recieved in my life. I truly treasure the book and her very dearly. Thank you, Erin.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"book\"","block_context":{"text":"book","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/tag\/book\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/DSC7292.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/DSC7292.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/DSC7292.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/DSC7292.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/DSC7292.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/DSC7292.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":854,"url":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/some-life-quotes-and-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":4},"title":"Random Quotes and Thoughts on Life","author":"mcclanahoochie","date":"December 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"We can't really change how much time we have \u2013 we can only alter where we put our attention. If you have a minute in a day gone wrong, you still have enough time. You are the creator of your reality. What you Desire becomes your Reality. It takes the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"inspirational quotes\"","block_context":{"text":"inspirational quotes","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/tag\/inspirational-quotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":559,"url":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/the-present-offers-only-one-day-at-a-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":5},"title":"The Shortness of Life","author":"mcclanahoochie","date":"September 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently stumbled upon the reading \u201cOn The Shortness of Life,\u201d a famous letter by\u00a0Lucius Seneca. A good overview of the reading can be found here. Here are a few pull quotes from the letter that happen to relate with some of my thoughts this past week. Present time is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"inspirational quotes\"","block_context":{"text":"inspirational quotes","link":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/tag\/inspirational-quotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcclanahoochie.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}