Normal Life

"There is no normal life, Wyatt. There's just life."
~Doc Holliday

It seems like such a simple thought, but there's so much wisdom in it.

Beginning when we're just children we form ideals of what a life should look like. Here in America, it's especially clear (or cookie) cut. Finish school. Go to college. Find a wife. Find a job with a company. Have kids. Spend the next 20 years devoted to your wife, kids, and company. Not necessarily in that order.

This plan works well for many people. But the problem comes when the people who aren't on this track start to feel like they're doing something wrong. Ok, I'll get real: I feel like I'm doing something wrong because I'm not floating down this river. I know in my head that there's not one way to live life (how boring would that be) and that there are many pros to my life, but I still can't shake the feeling that I'm off track and I need to work towards getting on track. I feel a little like Wyatt Earp at the end of Tombstone, when he confesses that all he ever wanted was a normal life. Wife, kids, property. The American Dream.

But why do I want these things? Is it just because they're "normal"? Do I really want these things right now? I'm not sure that I do as much as I think I do. I love the freedom that I have being single. I love that I woke up today and decided to float down the Chattahoochee River with one of my best friends. I love that I get to enjoy my niece a couple times a week but don't have to deal with the rough times. I love that my search for a job has forced me to examine what I'm really passionate about in life.

There is no normal life, Wyatt. It seems that Doc Holliday's implications are such: don't feel like life is a line to be followed. Don't concentrate all your efforts on getting over to that line when you see you've veered off.

There are many good things about education, marriage, children, and job security. But life is not a line to be walked. It's a jungle to be explored.

Lord, help me to explore life with the passions you've given me. Let me be shocked and amazed around every corner. And help me remember you have no stencils for how to live life, except to love.