Being a kid is fun. Everything is new and exciting. Joy just comes naturally. The big shiny bubble is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.
As you punch your time in school, you learn a lot of things. Math, science, language arts. You learn to play musical instruments, and that kicking the boy you like is not the most effective way to express your affection towards him.
Some things made sense to me. Others boggled my mind and I’m still wrestling with them.
I remember being in elementary school and learning about some war. Growing up in America, the idea of war is such a foreign concept. We think we’re untouchable and that it could never happen on our soil. It blew my mind that because two parties couldn’t agree on an issue, they had to kill each other. Whoever killed the most people won. -What?!
Or how about the time I learned that there were starving people all over the world. If people die because they don’t have food, why don’t we just give them food? We certainly have more than enough in America. Why not share? You’re telling me to share my crayons, why don’t you share your lunch?
Here’s the thing that is continuously blowing my mind – time. I remember watching a Bill Nye the Science Guy VHS in seventh grade. He had his face pressed up to the screen with a ticking clock explaining that every second that passes is a second you’ll never have again.
I forgot what the rest of the video was about, but shoot dang, that blew my mind!
I started counting, one Mississippi, gone.
Start again, one Mississippi, gone.
The idea that time is slipping through my fingers has never become more real than on the Race.
One Mississippi, two Mississippi, gone.
With all my contemplation of time and where it goes… I’ve been forced to answer my own question – What do we do with our time?
If every second is a fleeting ounce of life that will never come back to you, wouldn’t you choose to live while you have the ability to live?
Then that poses the question – What does it mean to live?
I think the answer changes for every person.
For me, I think it’s doing something that brings you joy and beauty in any given situation, bringing someone along side you to share in that joy and beauty, and then taking a step back to appreciate it.
I know it’s all fun and games for me to say this now as someone whose every decision is made for her. From what time to wake up, to what to eat for every meal, the decision is not my own. I’ve done my fundraising, so I don’t need to worry about making money today.
I wonder then, how will I choose to live this way, in the land where nothing is sacred, people don’t know who they are, and no one is ever satisfied with where they are?
How can I be the bearer of joy to a people group who struggle with a mindset of negativity?
How can I find the beauty in the moment when my dear friend Sallie Mae is knocking down my door to give her money every month?
Well.
I think in the light of one Mississippi, two Mississippi, gone, choosing to live is the only option.
