“I Love Living”

"I love living!" she exclaimed.

These were the unexpected words of a young lady at my table at last night's business dinner. She's in her early 20s, young in her career, and works in human resources at an oil services company. She has a zest for life that's as encouraging as it is contagious. I've only known her for a few days, but she approaches life and work with a zeal that's hard to quantify.

A few days ago, I wrote about how most of us have jobs that are weird and cool......if we're willing to look at a deeper level. So often, we bog ourselves down by dwelling on all the parts of our work and life that are less than enjoyable. The good gets overshadowed by the crappy; the exciting is clouded out by the mundane.

Yet, here's this young lady who excitedly sprints at life as if today might be the last day. She finds excitement where other people find "normal." Instead of approaching the unfamiliar and uncomfortable with caution and anxiety, she welcomes it as if it could possibly be the next best thing.

Can you tell I love this?!?! In a world full of weird and cool, she's embracing it with open arms. Maybe she'll be doing HR work 20 years from now. Maybe she'll be doing something totally different. Maybe she'll have found a dozen something differents between now and then. Either way, I hope she doesn't lose this joyful and optimistic spirit. I think all of us could learn a thing or two from her approach to life.

"I love living!" So simple. So profound. I want to keep feeling that way each time I wake up in the morning....and put my head on my pillow at night. Life can be pretty weird and cool if we let it.

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