A few months ago, while I was having coffee with a person that I had just met, they were telling me about how their wife was pursuing a life long dream in her forties. A dream that would mean they would live apart, across country, and incur more financial stress because where their wife needs to be to pursue this dream is expensive.

They said so matter of factly, “ How could i not support her in this? Why would anyone not pursue happiness at any point in their life? It’s one of the reasons we are here.”

I haven’t forgotten that conversation and it has made me think a lot. Living life NOW is important, some would say it is the most important thing ever. But how many times do we limit ourselves because of practical matters. I am a fairly practical and frugal person, so I can understand why people think, “Well, I guess I will never get to do XYZ.”

This past March, my 78 year old mother went to the AARP tax preparation event that she goes to every year. The senior center sets up tables and seniors come in with all of their tax info for volunteers to gather and prepare for their taxes. This year was different. She called me the day she went and told me how she just happened to get this guy who was so funny and interesting. They talked about various things outside of the tax world and she thought he might be flirting with her. My mom is a fairly shy person by nature and has never been the person to make the first move. Ever. It’s just not who she is. She was so enthusiastic about this guy. I told her that since he gathered her information for tax purposes, there was no way he could reach out to her. If anything was going to happen between them, if they would even see each other again, would be up to her. She gasped at the thought. I told her, “What have you got to lose?” I also told her words that I deeply believe, “When you take the leap into the unknown, the Universe will converge to help you, but you have to show up and take that leap”.

We have this one wild and precious life. We must stretch, grow and try new things, scary things, in order to live life to the fullest. What will you try?

She summoned the courage to write him a note, one that involved many drafts, and planned to take it back to the next tax day for AARP members. She didn’t know if he would be there or if she would even get to see him or talk to him because he might be busy. Sure enough, the timing was perfect. He saw her and was just wrapping up with someone else and came over to her. They talked and she gave him a note and 2 hours later he called her up for a date and they have been dating ever since. My mom hasn’t been this excited in years and says she feels like she is about 13 years old. Whether it lasts long term or not, my mom went out there and lived her life and now is happy in a relationship for the first time in almost 20 years. WOW! That is courage and that is the pursuit of happiness.

I have a hand made tile in my house I got at an art fair a few years ago that says, “What would you attempt to do, if you knew you could not fail?” That, exactly. I ask myself that question regularly. Are there things I am stopping myself from doing because I think I might fail? Failing means you tried and trying ends up successful sometimes. Why wouldn’t we all pursue happiness. Why wouldn’t we try things. For me and many I have talked to about this, the answer is fear. The fear of failure and the fear of rejection, or even, my favorite, the fear of success. What would happen to our lives and to us if we lived to our full potential? It’s hard to let go of those fears and for most of us, our upbringing helps to keep us in a safe and contained world, but do we really live?!! Do we look fear in the face and dare to take the leap?!! We have this one wild and precious life. We must stretch, grow and try new things, scary things, in order to live life to the fullest. What will you try? What risk will you take? What will you do?