....
What does that mean to you? What does it mean when life doesn't turn out quite like you had scripted it?
...
For me, today, it means that life is tough enough, confusing enough, and risky enough...
...don't play it safe,
...don't muddle through with ordinary and expected,
...reach higher!
Don't get lost in the routines of life, in the "have to's" and "must do's", all the while leaving the exceptional for some future date.
Forget the ordinary for a moment, toss in a little surprise here and there...and toss them in for no other reason than they make you smile on an otherwise ordinary, dreary, rainy-with-no-puddles-to-jump-in kind of day....
And while you're tossing in surprises, surround yourself with EXCEPTIONAL.
There is no need to attach a price tag, and no need to offer any explainations, just knowing that they touch your heart is reason enough.
Once you have finished "tossing in" and "surrounding yourself" with exceptional, take some time to enjoy the simple design of how your life really is fitting all together in ways you may not have anticipated.
You may not appreaciate it yet, but one day you will see how all these unplanned moments have played their role.
A bit from here and a bit from there can make the entire production a beautiful experience.
The dark days, the lonely days and the difficult days can become the standard that you will one day measure against the bright day, the packed day and the effortless, carefree day...
Take some time to enjoy the still quiet voice inside of you that in the middle of all the clatter around you whispers what your heart longs to hear.
Realize that it's not the absence of clattering that allows you to hear, but rather it's the clattering that makes it possible for you to hear.
Your heart leans in to hear, all the while knowing that risk is there, and the risk of knowing is worth taking.
Whatever risk you are reaching beyond....know that we are standing and cheering you on.
When life gets beyond you, when life happens too fast and slides beyond the reach of your control...
Reach higher than you thought possible.
See beyond the pain of today and reach into your dream of tomorrow.
And by all means,
definately,
Reach for the high apples first!
