Today's Affirmation

 

"Today, like Thoreau, I will live deeply and suck the marrow out of life."

              "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential          

              facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to        

              die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so       

              dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to       

              live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to        

              put to rout all that was not life..." --Henry David Thoreau from Walden

 

This is one of the most impacting quotes from one of my favorite authors.  It brings us to the brink of living, true living, and challenges us to make a choice between simply existing or truly experiencing our process.

 

Thoreau literally went into the woods, but he also willfully and consciously went into his own heart and mind and contemplated what he needed to begin living deliberately. 

 

The difference between living mindfully and living deliberately is that living mindfully implies awareness, being aware of what you are doing and how you are doing it.  Deliberateness implies purpose.  Living with purpose, taking action, being in charge of your life in order to give it meaning and significance.

 

As for me, I do want to live with awareness, I do want to live deliberately. I want to know, really know, myself, know what I feel, know what I believe. I want to make everything I do count for something, whether it is transferring knowledge to my students or sharing wisdom with my readers or participating and helping to create family unity.  I want to write books and create a prospering craft business and open a retreat center and meditate and heal and be happy and watch my children become masters of their own lives.  I want it all! 

 

I want to "go into the woods" and "suck the marrow" out of life and live sturdily and deliberately.

 

Consider for yourself.  Are you willing to "go into the woods" and "suck the marrow" out of life?  If so, then what are you waiting for? 

In Love and Light-Always,
Robin