"Now, THIS is the life..."

I absolutely love days like today. Not quite summer, not quite fall, the breeze just cool enough to give you goosebumps every once in a while if you're standing in the shade. And I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the afternoon in one of my favorite ways: at the park. Even better, I got to spend it with a pretty inspiring 13-year-old young man.

I sat on the swings, my favorite park installment of all time, and my friend sat beside me pushing the empty swing beside me back and forth a bit haphazardly. (Yes, there was an incident in which I got hit and while it's funny, it's not exactly pertinent to the story... but you can totally ask me about it later.) Though we had been talking as we were swinging, we both grew quiet and my mind wandered back to where it had been all morning. Writing my thesis, fixing my instrument, paying my bills, juggling my responsibilities as a graduate assistant, teaching myself fertilizer calculations, trying to NOT kill my plants in my greenhouse management class. Trust me, the list goes on.

As I sat swinging, staring off into space and probably looking very silly as my list played pinball in my brain, I was suddenly jarred back to the real world when my friend said something that has echoed through me all evening. He said,

Liz, THIS is the life!

It's one of his favorite lines. He says it when he's at the beach, the pool, the park,walking on the green way, and anywhere that he's spending time with his friends or family. I've heard him say it a million times. Yet today, for the first time, maybe because I needed to hear it, it finally sank in. I finally understood. Though he has his plate full, even for a 13 year old it's REALLY full, with his own tasks and concerns and responsibilities, he is wise enough to realize that that plate full of stuff is just that... stuff. My thesis, my classes, my job, all the things that have been stressing me out the past few weeks: while it's all really important, it's just my plate full of stuff that at the end of the day won't matter at all if there's not a life to carry the plate.

But the life... the life is the time spent enjoying the September sunshine. The life is swinging as high as you can because even at 23 years old you still get a rush from the flip your stomach turns. The life is talking with a friend. The life is everything outside of the stuff that you'll miss if you're not careful.

I know as well as anyone that it's easier said than done. But as your plate piles up with all the stuff that life serves you, you have to remember that when it's all that's said and done, it's the life that matters. Nothing else. And when you become overwhelmed getting ready for your fall plant sale, planning your class field trip to the state fair, collecting fruit orders, teaching classes, supervising FFA members at their annual tailgate social, AND running the ticket booth at the high school homecoming football game, remember what truly matters and make time for the life. And chances are, you'll be better all around once you do.