Time is Running Out

You've probably heard that phrase before--I know I have a million times. Deadlines over school or tasks at work, time is always running out to accomplish something--or at least, that is the way it seems, with those deadlines we choose to create. But what about REAL deadlines in life? Personally, I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Heading off the college in the fall is going to tear me away from my parents and siblings and friends, but there's always next summer to spend time with them, right? What about my grandparents that I never see? My grandparents that love me but live so far away we don't see eachother, my grandparents who are beginning to have issues with health or memory, my grandparents who won't ALWAYS have next summer. Yet, do any of us truly have a guarantee of next summer? Life is short--sometimes much shorter than expected. And only in these past several weeks have I begun to LIVE in a way that acknowledges that. My sister and I have been spending more time together, I'm hanging out with the girl across the street, I just visited my family in Georgia… I'm focusing more on what matters, and what matters is relationships with people. I hadn't seen my grandparents in GA in quite a while, and when we arrived and I hugged Papa, I told him I loved him, and he quietly said "I love you too" and got tears in his eyes… and in that moment I couldn't remember why I ever considered not coming on this trip. Sure, I had reasons--I've got deadlines to meet for school, need to finish shopping and getting my books and making decisions and paying bills, and I haven't blogged properly in ages(even missed my one year blogoversary)--but in the end, all of that is relatively inconsequential. My Papa means so much more to me than that. And so does my sister, and my mom, and my brother, and certain friends. It is so. freaking. easy., especially in this day and time with the advances in technology, to forget how much more important human relationships are than impersonal updates on facebook or funny videos on youtube. This coming week I've chosen to go to a movie with someone I don't know all that well, but would like to, go whitewater rafting with the girl across the street, and go to Ohio to visit my relatives on the other side of my family. Yet another trip at one point I considered missing out on. Yet more time away from college preparations. But it's worth it, because you never know how much time you've got left. And I guess that's the point of this post--time is precious, and so are the people you love, so why not spend what time you have with them? These past several weeks I've enjoyed my life more than I have since… well, as long as I can remember. It's a pity it took me so long to figure it out.

My Favorite Quotes

Hey everyone! The question of the day on formspring several days ago was "what is your favorite quotation?", and because I have several (and didn't want to list them all there), I've decided to make a post out of it :). Which one of these do you like most? And what are some of YOUR favorite quotes?

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire

"In my life I have seen,
People walk into the sea,
Just to find memories,
Plagued by constant misery,
Their eyes cast down,
Fixed upon the ground,
Their eyes cast down…
I'll keep my eyes fixed on the sun"-Cage the Elephant

"Some men see things the way they are and say, 'Why?'
I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"
-Robert F. Kennedy

"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities" -Albus Dumbledore (so what if he's fictional-GREAT quote!)

"We must overcome the notion that we must be regular... it robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre"-Uta Hagen

"Follow through
Make your dreams come true
Don't give up the fight
You will be all right
Cause there's no one like you
In the universe"-Muse

"I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale"-Marie Curie

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."-Einstein

"All of us get lost in the darkness,
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars"- Rush

"When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing -- then we truly live life."-Greg Anderson

"When you have a sense of your own identity and a vision of where you want to go in your life, you then have the basis for reaching out to the world and going after your dreams for a better life"-Stedman Graham

"You've got to be the best
You've got to change the world
And you use this chance to be heard
Your time is now"-Muse

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"-Aristotle

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding"-Einstein

And last, but not least, one of my all-time favorites:


"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."