14 July 2010

why i love baz luhrmann

i don't even know where to begin tonight because i have a gazillion and one thoughts going on in my head right now.

the first thing i'll say is that our team in training workout tonight ROCKED! i remember experiencing a runner's high in high school cross country, but i forgot what it felt like. for the last 12 years, i've been an on-again-off-again runner, never quite having the motivation to stick to a schedule and run by myself. well, all that has changed with team in training. this week just feels downright amazing. i feel like rocky balboa -- fist pumps and all!! i can feel all of this sweat and hard work paying off. my body is getting stronger. i'm getting faster. i'm running further. and it. feels. darn. good!!

so, not only that, but i was listening to 94.7 in the car on the way home and they were playing songs from 1998, which brought me right back to manton high school. we had the verve, third eye blind, green day, barenaked ladies, the beastie boys, and -- one of my all time favorites -- baz luhrmann, everybody's free (to wear sunscreen). some of life's most amazing pieces of advice are in that song.
  • Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….
  • Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
  • Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
  • one point that is especially true for me -- Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
    lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
  • one my mom always taught me -- Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
    might run out.
  • my favorite -- Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own...

seriously. amazing stuff. i'm not afraid to share that i literally had tears in my eyes listening to it. i don't know if it was because i was on such a high after my workout... or if it's because i'm getting older and realizing just how true all of these points are... or just simply feeling nostalgic for a time when i wasn't becoming so "adult."

but, truthfully, i think it was the point about being young and having so much possiblity before you. i think about where i thought i was heading in life when i graduated from college and compare it with where i have ended up. they are such different places, but that's ok. you know why? it's because i have a wonderful life. and you know what else? the possiblities are still endless. they will continue to be. we must all constantly grow and change and adapt. life is too short to let opportunities pass us by and it is too short to ever let our imaginations shut down.

with that, i should mention that i'm meeting with the director of global soul international (coincidentially named chad) next week to talk about volunteer opportunities. i'm excited to see what he has to say!!

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