Dare To Live

How can any man be weak who dares to be at all?
~Henry David Thoreau

A honest confession about life is one that dares to live, despite the circumstances. As human beings, we have the option to choose what to do with pain. We can cower down under the strong winds of misfortune, heartache, and loss. We can wallow in our own misery. Certainly, there have been times when each one of us has felt like the bow of our ship was breaking. Our support system has tottered. And maybe more than once, we've felt so unbelievably close to collapsing with the ship.

Any sensitive man or woman will realize, however, that we can't white out the moments of extreme change and emotional fatigue. When life's pressures seem too much to carry, we still have a choice. We can certainly decide what to do with the evil, the dark nightmares in our lives.

We are not machines or computer programs. We are human beings. And we have no way of fast-forwarding through a moment that is less than desirable. What we do with the pain that is bound to find each one of us is the difference. There is only one life to live. One body to breathe in the air. And one set of eyes to absorb the change.

To dare to live is by no means an easy task. It is arguably one of the hardest challenges presented to us. But to bottle up the pain, to boil in misery is sure to produce cynicism. This, when unchecked, will roadblock any future chance at happiness. Bitterness is no pleasant companion. Unbridled, it will run like a wild horse in an open range. Any suffering will be prolonged. This is what it means to waste a human life.

On the other hand, I would argue it is in hope that the stuff of life is set before us. For an eternal glory that far outweighs the struggle is what sets us free, even in and during the pain. And we run the risk of creating a cliche out of those words, unless we have had the opportunity to set them to work in our lives during a struggle. All the movement on earth, it seems, can become one huge cliche to us, if it weren't for the presence of pain in our lives and the chance to grow as human beings during those hard times.

When pain strikes our lives, our first instinct may be to hold it against someone. As humans, we have the right to be bitter. But, there is a pleasure in hope. There is joy in pain that can only be experienced if we embrace it. Holding on tight to the hope that we are being made into something greater, something glorious. Because, in this hope, we are saved. For hope that is seen, is not hope. It's something. But it's not hope.

Go in peace,

Sean