Taking the Plunge

I looked out at the cliff before me and, eyes closed, took a deep breath. I wanted to try it if it was the last thing I did. I shivered as the breeze hit my skin. It was cold, almost painfully cold, and I knew if I didn’t do it soon I would lose all the courage I had tricked myself into believing I posessed on my climb up to the top. The second I peered over the edge, wondering what was below, that thought was confirmed. The cool, glassy water that had seemed so inviting from the beach now glared at me ominously, almost menacingly. The light shiver I had became a more violent trembling, caused by my innate fear of heights. The drop might have seemed small to the others, only twenty feet, but it looked like miles to me.

                “Vamos! Jump!” the people behind me yelled, but I was frozen. A million excuses as to why I would have to climb down raced through my head as my stomach twisted in knots, but all I could think about was how disappointed in myself I would be if I didn’t do it. I couldn’t let them know I was scared. “Just jump,” I told myself. “It can’t be that bad. Other people have done it and lived.” But I didn’t want to fall. I hated the idea of leaping into the air without knowing exactly how and where I would land, and it was so hard to let go.

                “Uno, dos…” They were counting, and the added pressure of the audience got my adrenaline pumping. By the time they got to three my legs had already decided it was going to happen, I felt my body lurch forward and at the command “VAMOS!” I left the ground. I was flying, and not by choice. I was so shocked I couldn’t even muster a scream. I watched myself flail downwards, as ungracefully as humanly possible, and remembered only at the last second to point my body so I wouldn’t feel the punishing slap of the water.

                When I surfaced again, the only thing I felt was alive. I hadn’t died! I tilted my head back, finally relaxing, and laughed at how unnecessary my momentary terror had been. I leaned back and savored the moment, allowing the water to hold me while the sun kissed my face. In that moment, I didn't have to think, or worry, or care about anything in the world; I could just BE. 

Love the Earth We Were Given to Share

I'm absolutely in love with sunrises and sunsets, especially  in the mountains. There's something so beautiful about  the sun kissing everything one last time before it goes to sleep and then touching each thing individually to wake it up, as gently as a as a mother would her children, early in the morning. Sunsets and sunrises are some of God's little gifts to us. He paints us this beautiful sky, but we only get to enjoy it for a short period of time before it disappears and the sun goes to sleep or comes out completely. I'm not a morning person, but sunrises give me reason enough to wake up as early as 2AM to hike above treeline and watch the world come alive.
It's little, beautiful things like that that I think show us how much God loves us and how much we really have to live for. There are so many things all around us that we just take for granted and to see so many people just trashing it and ruining the beauty and simplicity of nature, as though it were their's to ruin, makes me sick. We all share this world and it's our job to take care of it. How would you like it if I came and threw my garbage all over your house? You probably wouldn't..
I think what we really need is to get back to the simplicity of life before technology and all of today's garbage. So unplug, leave your house, and enjoy it. If we all just take a second to sit back and stop worrying about all the things we have to do and our plans for the future for one minute, maybe, just maybe, everyone will see how blessed we truly are.

Forward Love, Not Emails

We are human beings,

Made to love and care,

But lately all that I’ve been seeing

Are robots with a flippant air.

We call ourselves alive,

But what is life without love?

We offer no warmth on which to thrive,

Disregarding the commands from above.

We pass without a wave or smile,

We banish thoughts of the poor,

Conversations are not worth our while,

And we waste the lives we’re given to adore.

What happened to the hearts of kindness

That God created us to use?

We need something that will remind us

That people are not made to abuse.

Our relationships are with technology

Phones, computers, laptops too

But this is a sick ideology

Don’t you wish people would talk to you?

Aren’t relationships worth more than a text?

Shouldn’t you want to talk to the people you love best?

Spread the love you are given to all;

Let’s rid this world of all of its gall.  

Lately I've noticed that the old friendliness and kindness that used to be expected in others, like smiling at people when you pass them, saying bless you when someone sneezes, whether you know them or not, or just acknowledging the people who are standing at the street corners begging you to help them, has become so much more rare. people consider "checking in" with someone just messaging them on facebook or texting them "I miss you!," but in all honesty I don't think that counts as communicating with people. Things can be interpreted in so many different ways when someone's just reading it and what you mean can be completely lost on that person if they read it wrong. What really matters in our relationships with people is conveying our love for them through the warmth that we offer in our actions and our words. It's become my belief that if people are texting, emailing, messaging, etc. someone else to show them how much they care about them, then they really don't care that much at all. Pick up the phone and call the people you love, or just go see them; it means so much more.