Friday, September 10, 2010

I Want to be Available

"Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth."
~Mike Tyson

And isn't that exactly what Life does? Punch your plans right in the mouth?

I was watching Stand Up for Cancer tonight and the statistics are just insane. 1 in every 2 men and 1 in every 3 women will be diagnosed with Cancer. Every 60 seconds a person dies from Cancer. Every minute, 3 people are diagnosed with Cancer. I mean when you think about these numbers and the millions of other things plaguing our world, its hard not to become depressed, apathetic, scared, defeated.

It would be easy to make no plans at all for fear that suffering or despair may interfere with your life. But it's what we do when we get punched in the mouth that defines us. Begins to shape our plans. To color our dreams.

As I sat watching with tears streaming down my face, I saw hope and love. These people took the punch in the mouth and stood for change. Stood for a new plan. A new dream.

So as I think about what steps I need to take next in life. I know as well that something will probably stand in the way and change the plans and the dreams and the hopes (I mean it already has a number of times), but I hope that I'll be defined by the way I handle that punch in the mouth. I don't want to be defined by doing nothing at all.

I want to be available for that punch in the mouth because that means I got in the ring for the fight.

"We can't plan life. All we can do is be available for it."
~Lauryn Hill

2 comments:

  1. well said Maria. miss you and think of you often. sending you a big Ashley hug!

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  2. Maybe we can have a cocktail and a chat soon? I was flying back from Nevada and finishing a book by my favorite author, and I had just finished Burning Man, and I thought to myself, "what next .." And I started tearing up (that poor woman next to me) and I think you're right. The punch in the mouth is what defines us, it's what can spark and spur us. So what's your next step? Or next adventure, as I have come to call it. :)

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