If we have been brought into a wide and spacious place, then why is every attempt made to limit us to narrow and confined places? Ever since I can remember there were constant attempts to break me, bridle me, saddle me, drill me and ride me. So many things have the tendency to restrict our experience, our thinking, and our life. Instead of helping us to fall more in love and to appreciate the world and all the beauty that is in it, we are taught to remove ourselves, restrain ourselves, restrict ourselves, regulate ourselves and refine ourselves. We are to have life and to have it more abundantly. I don’t think that’s talking about beyond the grave. I think that’s talking about fullness of life now. But instead of living with abandon, we abandon living.

In our community I encourage experimenting with life. I encourage wild and radical and passionate adventures in living. I applaud audacious thinking. It makes it far more challenging because mistakes are made on the road to discovering what is good. I read an interview with an entrepreneur. He said that he failed more than 90% of the time. But that was because he tried so many things, so many start ups. But 10% succeeded and he’s very successful. Those who are very successful in business admit that they’ve made more mistakes than anybody else out there. Why? Because they were willing to risk. But that’s why they’ve succeeded! Same with life I say. True living requires risk.

I don’t want to live a prescribed life. Nor do I want others. I restrain from telling other people how they should live. Ought and must and should are dangerous words I use very rarely. There’s enough of that out there. Let’s think outside the box! Let’s break out of the stall and live outside the corral. Let’s check out the other side of the fence. Here’s to living wildly, adventurously, uniquely and authentically! Here’s to discovering who we are and what we can do in this world! Here’s to making a stir in our communities and inspiring others to do the same! Here’s to living dangerously! For the steps of the righteous are blessed.

The photo is the creation of my daughter Casile.