Why “Live Life Exuberantly”?

Over the last several months, it seemed like there were a few unsettling things going on in our life. We had to put our dog, Holly, down; an old running friend had passed away; one of my sisters had some surgery; a friend’s mother had died suddenly…..Then I received an email from a classmate at West Point, letting me know that another classmate had passed away. We traded a few emails or texts back and forth and talked about our class getting older (and grayer), and dying too young. The last text my classmate sent me said “Live life exuberantly…”.

According to one dictionary, a definition for exuberant is – very lively, happy, or energetic; filled with energy and enthusiasm; very plentiful.

That got me to thinking. How exuberantly have I lived my life? I mean, it’s been a pretty good life to date, but exuberant? Sometimes, and maybe often, but certainly not always.

Now that I’m mostly retired, what I’ve discovered (for me) is that one of the great gifts of retirement, is the luxury of time. Time to do the things you want; time to do things right; time to do nothing, and not feel guilty about it.

What I’ve promised to myself, is that no matter what I’m doing, I’m going to try and do it exuberantly – whether fixing something here at the farm, crabbing at the Bay, hiking Old Rag, or reading a book by the fireplace on a winter day….

Life’s a journey.  To  borrow from Tolkien –

The road goes ever on and on
Down from the door, where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
and I must follow if I can.
Pursuing it, with eager feet,
until it meets some larger way.
And wither then?
I cannot say…