This Is Your Life, Revel In It
My inner monologue tends to bounce back and forth between “Hell, yeah, I am living my best life” and “You don’t deserve this.”
I mean, who am I to get to live this life, to have these incredible experiences? To be eating these incredible foods, seeing these amazing sites, meeting these fantastic people, riding vespas through Tuscany while the sunsets?
When I arrive in Florence, I tell my new friend, Mary Jane, about this concern, “I feel bad… I’m just feeling ridiculously spoiled.”
Mary Jane is in her early to mid 70s. She first came to Italy 50 years ago for Grad School, went back and forth to the United States, and after three kids and a divorce ended up making Florence her home.
When I tell her I feel spoiled, she simply says, “Sometimes you just have to enjoy it. And then savor it for the times that you’re not. Because you won’t always be.”
And this is the truth I’ve been trying to keep in mind, you won’t be spoiled everyday of your life.
There will be days that suck, days that rip your heart out, days that are hard, days when nothing seems to go your way, days that gut you and make you want to quit.
But not savoring the moment, not reveling in the experience, won’t make those days any easier. So be present in these moments, soak them in, let yourself feel the warmth of the sun on your shoulders, the breeze of the ocean blow through your hair, let yourself feel the joy and know that you do deserve joy.
This is your life and you deserve to revel in it.
