Grace is Gone

I just watched the movie, "Grace is Gone." As many have noted before, I like sad movies. If you aren't in a mood to watch a sad movie it probably isn't the right time to be watching this one. This is a good one to watch for Memorial Day weekend though. I didn't pay much attention to Memorial Day until I was an adult because I was never close to where my relatives were buried and my family didn't put much emphasis on thinking about it. The movie is about a man who finds out that his wife died in Iraq and he has to find a way to break it to his children. What I like about movies like this is they don't depress me but in fact help me think about how beautiful life is. This world and living in it is marvelous and it is too easy to forget that. It is easy for me to worry about how poorly things are going or how boring and lame my existence is. Maybe life is absurd, but it is still glorious. Death is scary but so is life at times, maybe I should embrace both. I let myself get in a routine or pattern where life is monotonous and dull. Is that living? Even if I need to do the same things every day does my life need to become pointless? I think not, I hope not. It seems very difficult to sit down and change my attitude and look at life differently but if I can wouldn't it make my life substantially better? I love life when I am living it and it becomes painful when I let it slip by. Living is hard but the rewards are great. Maybe I should re-examine my life and cut out the things that are wasting it. Did you know that the average American watches 5 hours of TV a day? People my age spend a ton of time just playing on the computer doing nothing. I spend a ton of time mindlessly playing minesweeper and always feeling the need to justify it. This Memorial Day I have a challenge for both of us (me and you): Step one, Think about those that have passed on that made a difference and lived life to the fullest. Step Two, Think about how you can make your life more meaningful and what you can cut out of it that is holding you back. Step Three, Go out and make a difference in the world. Step Four, evaluate progress by writing it down and report back to those who have died and promise them that you will remember them and use their lives to change the world partially on their behalf. Good Luck! May this be the the first day of your life.