Some time ago in my life I chose to "live well" rather than to "just live." That means taking some chances, trying out some opportunities that the shyer me might have avoided; it means understanding that without pre-knowledge of an afterlife, we need to make the best possible use of our time -- while we live!
Living well doesn't mean "living high on the hog" either. It means enjoying the moment (carpe diem) and understanding just why that moment is so important and wonderful. It means true and full enjoyment of every small pleasure; deep and complete experience of every small pain as well.
It is useless to descry to pains of age or even just the pains of everyday life. It is much better to realize that such pains make us human, such pains make us alive. I work to live up to such a standard of "enjoyment" but sometimes fail at doing so -- even those failures are meant to be acknowledged, experienced, and made a living part of our story. We are what we are, after all, and could be much worse -- if we tried to be other than what we are.
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