Thursday 7 October 2010

Full? What is Full?


Those avid followers of my writing out there will now know that my general goal in life is to live it to the full. This has come into my mind even more so in the past week in light of very unexpectedly losing a friend of mine. His thanksgiving service was yesterday, and amidst the tears and atmosphere of tragedy in that packed out church, the stories told about Matt repeatedly emphasised his love of life, and his ability to make the most of every second.

The sense of untiy in that church yesterday was overwhelming. We were all there remembering and taking joy in the person Matt was. To say what happened to him was an incredible shame seems a little short, and nothing can describe the pain I saw in the faces of the people closest to him. However, as I’ve said in previous posts, one thing you can take away from it is the live for every moment, who knows when it will end?

Then I got to thinking, what exactly do we mean by living life to the full? It’s not the most practical of ideas. The way I would feel like I was living life to most full would be to be continuously on the road, seeing the world. But let’s be honest, that’s just not possible is it?! I stand at work and think ‘Am I really living life to the full? Right now?’ No. Of course I’m bloody not. But I’m working to live life as much as I can, and head out on my travels later in the year. Whoever said to live each day as if it were your last must have had a pretty cushdy life; it is a completely impractical philosophy.

The way I then started to think about it was that it is possible to make the most of each day as it comes, in whatever situation you may be in, and as much as time/space/money allows. I woke up this morning feeling pretty blue, a little puffy-eyed, and generally quite fuzzy. After a couple of hours of that and two cups of tea later, I didn’t feel any better, stuck at work and just wanting to be in bed. But I just thought: is this really getting me anywhere?

I have my bad days at work, but I really hate the idea that I’m spreading negative vibes by being in a bad mood. This affects people even more so when you’re standing around with nothing to do and the only other person there is freakin’ miserable.

In Matt’s service it was mentioned how much he loved film, music and being with friends, and that in itself was how he lived life to it’s extreme. Most of us think that doesn’t seem like enough to be living life to it’s best potential, but is it not? If you have goals to achieve in other ways to really live, can’t you in the mean time enjoy life by just relishing in these simple pleasures?

I think it’s all about experience. If every day you read a bit more of a book you’re enjoying, watch a film you’ve never seen before, learn something more about a co-worker you’ve been forced to stand around with and chat to all day, that’s got to be some kind of progress right?

Living life to the full doesn’t mean you have to jump on a plane somewhere or continuously be spontaneous. Although I will try this on any occasion possible, whilst I muster up the money to do so I’m trying to live every day to the full by learning and exploring. Some days I fail, and I mope around at work. On these occasions I regret having achieved nothing and feel sad at the thought that I haven’t made anyone’s day a bit brighter.

Today, I popped in to see an old friend who works round the corner from me five days a week, and I never make the effort to see him. This meeting cheered me up no end, and it reminded me to never take that kind of friendship for granted. You never know when it might be gone. This is how I have lived today. 

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