Of any writings ever presented to me in all my years of literary analysis, Henry David Thoreau's Walden has proven most influential to me in my life. The passage that has stuck with me eversince I first parts of Walden in highschool was:
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary."
Throughout my I have been striving to learn and understand what a deliberately lived life looks like. My first defination embraces the fact that living deliberately means that we are to live life going somewhere and not just being somewhere. Meaning to live with purpose and intent, knowing where you are, and understanding where you want to be, not knowing the steps its going to take to arrive there but undergoing the task anyway, thus embracing a life thats worth being lived. It's my goal to live a life, and not come to recognise when I die that I had not lived, but to know that I have indeed, lived.
I love your insight. I'm at a place where I don't want to be stagnant anymore - I desire so badly to take advantage of the opportunities set before and live fervently. I am terrified of looking back at my life and wishing I had done the things I was too scared to do, pursued experiences fearlessly with the understanding that failing is acceptable, and loved with my full capacity to do so. Like Thoreau says "I do now wish to live what is not life." Thanks for your thoughts. :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this, and with Julia's comment! I think this strikes us so much in our time of life - we are at such a crossroads, trying to decide what to invest our lives in and what to pass up. And I think we are all terrified of choosing the wrong road and somehow missing out on life. I really appreciated what you said about not knowing the steps its going to take to arrive there, but still undergoing the task anyway. We may not know exactly where we want to go, but wherever we go, may we live deep on the journey.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with all of you. Seriously, I kind of want to drop my books and head out to the forest! Like, Walden, I sometimes wonder if there is more to life than what I'm doing right now. I want to live life as well, and not miss the mark laid out for me. We can take hope in the fact that if we look to Christ He will not let us fall, and we won't miss our mark.
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