Life is too short

Life is too short to be stuck in traffic. In Sacramento, I've been driving much more than I normally do, and remembering why I don't particularly enjoy it. In a car, there's really nothing you can do about how fast you get places. I mean, you can speed, but if there's heinous traffic, you're basically stuck. And there is little worse than the feeling of absolutely wasting your time sitting on your ass, waiting for someone in front of you to move. I'm so excited to get back to Portland and on my bike, where even if it takes me longer to get places, I'm not just focused on the destination but am enjoying the journey, too.

Life is too short to squander a sunset. I've seen some pretty good sunsets the last few days: hiking the hills in Palo Alto, sitting on a back deck watching the red-wing blackbirds settle down for the night, riding bikes with my mom. And it made me realize that I haven't really been taking advantage of the sunsets back in Portland--the glorious, crisp fall sunsets that light up the trees and make everything, even for just a moment, magically alive. How many sunsets have I skipped because I was too busy with something else?

Life is too short to not tell someone how you really feel. Starting a few days ago, I've been trying to better live according to this. There are so many amazing people in my life, and the greatest shame is that they may not know how amazing I think they are. So often I don't voice the compliments that float through my head, or don't say what I'm really thinking, because it seems weird, somehow--too honest, perhaps, or risky for the way it opens me up. But I can't stand the fact that people might not know how they've affected me, inspired me, made me better. I'm not good at it, but I'm trying: I want, in the moment, to tell people what they mean to me.

Life is too short to stick with something that's not good enough. This is my life. I want it to be the best, absolute best, it can be. If something's not good enough--my job, say;)--I know it, deep down, even if it's hard to admit sometimes. There's not enough time to waste on jobs, people, books, places that aren't good enough. What kind of stuff are you putting up with just because it's a routine, just because it's what you know, even if it's not satisfying? I want to squeeze that stuff out of my life.

What about you? (Yes, YOU;) What is life too short for, and how can we all fix it?