Choosing fun and love

I recently had the fortunate opportunity to accompany my corporate sister on a trip she won to Beaver Creek, CO. The funny part is she is not a skiier. So while she was off doing photo shoots in the snow with other winners for this contest, I was off zipping down the slopes after a five year hiatus from skiing.

This is not a blog about skiing, however. It's about my rediscovery of how to have fun. The last few years have been personally challenging for myself and my family, both mentally and physically. I'm not sure if I forgot how to have fun or just denied myself the pleasure or made other things a priority. Whatever the case, during those two days on the mountain in the crisp air surrounded by mountains and snowcapped trees and brightly-garbed children getting their ski legs, I found fun.

It wasn't like a hammer on the head or a burst of light...it just happened. I made a decision to "have more fun." This was what a little angel I read about, Jesse Lewis (see photo), told his brother J.T. in a note discovered after he died in the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy. This little boy who had a short time on earth is changing more lives through a foundation his mother Scarlett started called the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation (http://www.jesselewischooselove.org/). The idea is given the choice to have an angry thought or a loving thought choose love. The foundation is developing curriculum and programs to help prevent violence in schools and hopefully the world.

I will never be as brave as Jesse was that day he stood up to the shooter and saved the lives of 9 of his classmates by telling them to "run" when Adam Lanza stopped to adjust his gun. I will not have the chance to undo hateful or petty things I may have done to hurt others even if unintentionally. But I do have the chance this moment and any time I have left on earth to have fun and choose love. It may not be the easier run, but it's the one I want to be on while I still have the chance.



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