Life Sucks. Eat Cookies.

It was said as a joke. It was a light-hearted comment about my lack of ability to be perfect. It was a consolatory thought. But think about it... "Life sucks. Eat cookies."

My friend told me this the other day while we were waiting at the Grill. We were maintaining a sarcastic conversation about how she was unfailingly perfect.... because you know, failing perfection makes so much sense. Scratch that. Anyway, I made a comment that I was sad that I would never reach her level of flawlessness and her response was, "Life sucks. Eat cookies." While it was definitely not a pre-planned response, it was so honest.

Why on earth do we take the "failures" in life so seriously? I know that sounds weird...but think about it. Many times "failures" are far beyond our control and yet we spend so much time mourning everything that went wrong. Not that there aren't times for mourning because mourning is a healthy step in dealing with emotions. But dwelling in loss for a lengthy periods of time becomes harmful. It is not attractive to wallow. I mean just think about the word. Wallow. It sounds so empty.

To quote Ferris Bueller - "Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." We can't spend forever wallowing in pain and self-pity. We have to remember to live life...not just spend it. This is not a new concept -carpe diem... or carpe noctem. Seize the day. Or seize the night. According to dictionary.com, seize means "to take hold of suddenly or forcibly." Now this is not to say that we should try to direct every aspect of our lives. One of my best friends continually tells me "If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." God will work through all the paths that our lives take - whether we listen is totally separate. But, God has already given us all that He can. It is our job to try to cooperate. We can do this by loving and enjoying the life we have.

If we are going to be a "now" society, let us be a positive society.

I think sometimes we forget that we don't have to spend time worrying over everything that went wrong. We forget that there is always a silver lining... even if it is far removed from us directly.

So acknowledge the things that don't go your way (Life sucks.) Then embrace, immerse, and let it go. (Eat cookies.)

For further thoughts check:
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
- The Shack by William P. Young
- The Princess Bride (movie)
- Stranger Than Fiction (movie)
- Fast Car by Tracy Chapman (song)