Pick the Adventure Your 80-year-old Self Will Be Proud Of
I’ve talked about getting my nose pierced all year. Actually-hold that-in spring of 2017 I went to a homeschool conference with a friend and we had a long conversation about my getting my nose pierced. Another friend and I tossed the idea around at the beginning of the year because she wanted to pierce her ear cartilage. But I let it drop even though I’ve wanted to do this for three or four years.
I hadn’t thought about it seriously in months. The day after Christmas I walked by the mirror while I was picking up the bedroom and “you should go pierce your nose” seemed to be written in all-caps on the mirror. I stood and stared at my reflection in the mirror and, for some reason, felt certain that if I did not go pierce my nose then, I would never do it. And if I never did it, it would start a trend of not doing things and I would have a long list of regrets when I was an eighty-year-old woman looking back at my life. I grabbed my friend and went two days later.
Wikipedia defines adventure as “an exciting experience, a bold undertaking.” When I’m on my deathbed, I want my life to have been bold, to have been an experience. Not in-your-face and brash, but I don’t want to hold back on the things God has for me to do and experience either. I don’t want to just exist. I want to live.
My nose piercing was an early birthday present to me; I smile every time I see it. It’s a reminder to not walk timidly through life. One of my Instagram favorites, Lisa Whittle, posted a quote that said, “Do not live the same year 89 times and call it a life.” Amen and amen.
We’re just starting 2019 and I want to challenge you to think about your approach to life. Don’t tell me that it’s already the 11th and you missed the window for change. There is no such thing. I love January 1st but it’s not magic. You can change what you are doing any day. God can disrupt your stale routine with His love any day.
Are you walking timid? Are you counting yourself out before you ever put on your jersey? Are you refusing to show up for practice but then wanting to play in the game? Is there a place you need to speak truth over your life and change some things you believe?
I don’t mean you have to go get your nose pierced (although if you do, let me know). But maybe you’ve always wanted to wear red lipstick. Or try that certain style of clothes. Or take a graduate level class. Or go exploring in another city. Or volunteer with an organization in your town.
Maybe the only reason you haven’t done those things is that it takes effort to disrupt normal. Take the effort. Invite a friend, make a deadline, don’t give yourself room to back out. Get after life.
Maybe you’re scared of what people will think. Let me fill you in on my story. Exactly two people have asked about my nose ring. They both said, “Have you always had your nose pierced?” No one is paying as much attention as you think they are.
As we starting running in 2019, walk in your lane. But don’t just live the same life you did last year even if you are doing the same things. Life with Jesus is the opposite of boring. Say “yes” when you can. Do those things you want to when you can. Ask what your 80-year-old self will have to say. Don’t settle for boring and then say you had to because you’re a Christian.
Welcome to 2019!
