Remember your firsts? Make more.
Do you remember the very first time you opened your eyes to the world? The very first rays of light that invaded your untested retinas, the very first sounds that made their way into your ears. How about the first touch you felt on your skin or maybe something more recent; your first steps, the first time you tasted ice cream and liked it, your first fight, your first kiss, your first taste of beer, your first flu shot, the first time your favorite team won the championship? Think of any firsts you could possibly come up with. You may not remember most of them; especially the first set of examples (unless you are a special kind of human). Some would summon a smile as neurons connect as much as they can to muster scenes from events from your greatest hits and frowns when you remember those lows.
Life is full of firsts as long as you draw breath. New experiences that turn out to be proof that you do more than exist but you are indeed alive. It means you are trying out new things; no matter how small or seemingly insignificant they may be. Some go skydiving, bungee jumping, or mountain climbing while for others, it may be as simple as journaling, taking up painting, writing, running, exercising or what have you. The intensity or relative significance of your ‘first’ does not really matter here. What really matters is that you are making the moves- living.
From the time we are born, we begin a march. A march forward through time in which we experience more firsts than we could possibly keep track of. One thing we may constantly ignorantly be oblivious of is that though we experience a whole lot of firsts, at any point in time,we may experience a ‘last’; which anyone only gets to do once. Interesting, right? Scary even. The thought that at any time whatever you may be doing, whatever thought runs through your head, whatever taste may be in your mouth, whatever you see, no matter the experience, may be your very last. I guess that’s one of the things that makes life more exciting. The unpredictability of it all. The inevitability of certain things we are aware of but choose to keep locked away in the deepest recesses of our psyche.
As we march on, we must constantly and consciously remind ourselves. Life is full of firsts but you only get to experience one last. What you do with that realization iscompletely up to you. Live responsibly, love your neighbor. Write that book, visit that city, call that person, try that new meal, run that race, try out for that team, whatever your first may be, go for it. As long as you are not hurting anyone, experience as much as you can. I pray that as you march on, God helps you through your firsts; good or bad, wins or losses, victory or defeat. Cheers to you as you chase your firsts.