UP – Simply Intentional

I was struggling last night working on a post about being thankful. I looked over the words and felt sick and uninspired by my written garbage. To be honest, I just felt it wasn’t very truthful and it wasn’t very me.

We just watched the movie “Julie and Julia” (a movie I didn’t think I would like so much) that shared the lives of two remarkable women. I was impressed by their stories (won’t spoil the movie) that in good times or bad, we must be who we are, do what we love, and above all, do what my dad has always said to me, “Just be thankful.”

I left the movie reflecting and convicted that often, I am not as grateful for the life I have as I should be. I wonder if I tell and show the people who are most important to me that I love them enough, I wonder if they know. I wonder about the people who I haven’t spoken to in years, or loved ones that have passed on, whether or not they knew how much they mean to me. Of course I also think about those that have also hurt me, whether they knew or not, if they know how much they affected my life, the memories I cannot forget, the forgiveness that was hard to find. And finally, I think of those that I have hurt, and whether they know how sorry I am, whether I meant to hurt them or not.

Yet, I am constantly reminded by others and God that in my life, that all of it, the good and the difficult, is my life. Each hurtful comment, each hug of support, each difficult choice, each hair on my head lost, each treasured and also painful memory makes me who I am, and while there is a lot I am not proud of, I do find hope in where I am now and I truly am thankful for my life and the people in it.

I want my Dad’s words of “Just be thankful,” to be my mantra and life goal. I think of the other movie I saw today, “UP”, (it’s vacation….you are allowed two movies on vacation). I am deeply touched how they showed that no matter how painful it is to lose someone you love, that the gift is to treasure every single moment.

Thank you God for the life I have lived so far, please help me to be thankful for all of it, and for whatever is to come. Please help me to be thankful and show my gratitude everyday for those that I love and for those that are difficult to love. Thank you for movies like “Julie and Julia” and “UP”, and thank you for making me, me.

I leave you with one of my favorite poems that truly speaks to me about who I am, and what I would say if someone wanted to know about me. Thanks William.

Ask Me

Some time when the river is ice ask me

mistakes I have made. Ask me whether

what I have done is my life. Others

have come in their slow way into

my thought, and some have tried to help

or to hurt: ask me what difference

their strongest love or hate has made.

I will listen to what you say.

You and I can turn and look

at the silent river and wait. We know

the current is there, hidden; and there

are comings and goings from miles away

that hold the stillness exactly before us.

What the river says, that is what I say.

-William Stafford

ps. I really appreciate everyone’s support with my P90X challenge. Day 19 and still going strong… J

So I have a guilty pleasure, a tiny obsession, a blatant passion for Pixar movies. forthebirds

There I said it.

I know it’s not weird to love Pixar movies. Many people enjoy their story telling, the humor, their pure entertainment value, and most of all their endearing characters. But to love Pixar movies, animated movies that feature fictional, fantasy based characters (talking fish, monsters, cartoon people, cooking rats, robots in-love) because they teach us what it means to be human? Crazy talk…

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But it’s true….

I’m thankful for Pixar because they truly know how to capture emotion, telling stories about life that we can relate to through stories that take place to these crazy characters. Follow me if you will…..

– a father in search of son who wants to be free of being held down (Finding Nemo)

– a greedy monster seeks to hurt and scare people instead of thinking about a creative, innovative way to power his nation (Monsters Inc.),

– a robot that is curious to think and act for himself, to serve others, and ultimately puts himself at risk for others he loves (Wall E.),

– a rat being true to his vocational calling to be a chef and helping others to be true to themselves (ratatouille),

– a story of love, saying goodbye well, and letting go (UP). pixar_up

It’s not a magic formula or anything. Just stories that talk about real life experiences, told through a fictional, magical perspective, and maybe that’s why we can make that connection with them. No one would believe that kind of magic actually exists in real life among humans today. But it does and as cliche as it sounds, maybe we just need to believe.