I pray you’ve learned as many lessons as we have in 2019 and that you are looking forward to 2020 not to have a new start but to grow and embrace the knowledge you gained this year and most importantly to LIVE!
This is the sentence I left you with in December and I felt it fitting to start my next post with the reminder of it. Every time I sit down to write I’m amazed at how long it’s been since I last sat here. I never intend to go this long between posts but yet it happens. My answer for that is because I am busy LIVING!
We often say life is short but few of us actually live life by that motto. I’ve been guilty of the same. Last year really taught David and I about appreciating what we have and most importantly the time we have to enjoy our lives. Every time I feel that we have a good grasp on it something happens to change my perspective once again. That certainly happened to us on Sunday January 26, 2019.
Last Sunday we had a fun day planned, we drove south about an hour to try out a brewery we’d never been to and listen to music by a local artist we recently discovered. We, like the rest of the world, were shocked while sitting there to the text message received that Kobe Bryant was dead. In total disbelief and waiting for it to be a hoax we turned our attention to the TV on the wall playing ESPN who was in fact breaking this tragic news. We were still sitting in those same seats when we learned his beautiful daughter Gianna was lost with him. I will be the first to say I am not an NBA fan. I also never cared much about watching Kobe, just as I don’t about LeBron. I understand that they were and are amazing basketball players and I respect that but here’s the deal, I grew up in the Michael Jordan era so that’s where my heart lies. BUT, and this is a huge but, and the most important thing, I know that both of them are absolutely amazing and devoted fathers and so for that I follow them on a personal level and respect them tremendously.
The other thing that I think is so odd at least for me is that I am also one of the first to say I don’t understand why people get so upset over celebrity deaths. People, regular people, die every single day and often in very tragic ways. We don’t know these celebrities we know what we see, but yet for many the loss is enormous. So for me not being a huge fan I was surprised at myself for just how hurt I was. Perhaps it’s just this stage of life I’m in, connecting to this on the level of someone my age, a parent, a spouse, a friend. I don’t know what it is but it was hard and has been hard this entire week which is why I waited so long to make this post.
My point in all of this is to say again LIVE. Through all the sadness and pain I think what Kobe would want remembered the most was his passion for life. He did so many amazing things on and off the court in his 41 years and left a legacy behind not just for basketball but for life. If we want to honor him we must live the same way. If you have a spouse, cherish them. If you have children, love them. If you have friends, make time for them. If you have dreams, chase them. If you have breath, thank God for it and make the most of every moment you are given.
So my plan for this year is to be more faithful in keeping up with this blog and I’ve set myself a goal to at least summarize each month that passes. So let’s start with January. We started 2020 with a day at home relaxing and enjoying a traditional meal of Pork, Black-eyed Peas, Collard Greens and Stewed Tomatoes to give us blessings on our journey into 2020. We started focusing more on eating better and working out more and are starting to slowly see the results of that. We went to an amazing concert with friends. If you are a fan of 80’s music and have never seen The Legwarmers then I highly encourage you to put that on your bucket list. They were fantastic! We also had a quick snow day in which I got to work at home for two days and enjoy the view from my mountain home. It was beautiful to look at but ya’ll know me I’m ready for warmer weather, porch sitting and beach walking!
So far 2020 has been good to us and we already know that 2020 is going to be amazing for our family. We will take the sadness from the Bryant tragedy to propel us further in our goal to live life. I hope that you can do the same. In your prayers please remember all 9 victims of that devastating crash, pray for their families and that they can find the strength to continue living to honor those they loved so much. I believe that seeing how this tragedy has transcended not just the NBA but all of sports and all of us in general just shows us how much impact we can have on others lives if we live our life with the mentality to do great things. It’s funny because though I know Kobe’s motto I never knew what it meant but turns out it’s what I’ve been preaching all along. We all should have Mamba Mentality and if you didn’t maybe now you will! LIVE LIFE!
~Carla
PS-The page is back on Facebook! Go give it a like and please share. I’ve learned that I reach so many more people using social media so I decided to give it a go again!
Arise and Glow 