Don't Just Exist. Live.

Between Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Blogger, the other social media sites, and our habit-forming technology use, more people are spending a significant amount of time sitting around on computers. You keep searching pages on Pinterest, and coming up with different situations where you could use that really crafty idea; you browse your news-feed and wait for someone to message you on Facebook, hoping that they have an interesting story to tell you.
While I believe that all of these things are fine in their own time and in moderation, I also believe that we should be out in the world, actually living. Not counting how many "friends" we have on facebook, or how many wedding ideas we can get from Pinterest (even though half of the people doing this are still single...) Get out and live a little. Actually DO something.

A friend asked if I had plans on a weekday. I answered with something along the lines of, "No, no plans. Usually I just sit around the house and write, but that's about it." He said that if I already had plans to write that night, that it was no big deal, and that we could hang out some other time. Well that just seemed silly to me: how ridiculous would it have been for me to turn down the opportunity to hang out with a friend so that I could sit at home and stare at my computer? It would be absurd to not go out and have a little fun when given the chance, just to sit at home and find ways to embellish your life (or pretend that you have a life, for that matter). 

We shouldn't be afraid to get out and expose ourselves to different situations. Get out of our comfort zones every once in a while. See what the world has to offer. Get into mischief sometimes. We shouldn't just sit in our safety box and maintain this mundane existence that we call life (especially at the mercy of a computer). Feel the sun on your skin, run against the wind, talk to random people you meet while walking down the street, get a black eye. I don't care what you do, just do something.
I have to include myself in all of this. I'm guilty of staying in my comfort zone, and not pushing my own boundaries. But I'm realizing more and more that there are so many more things I can do with my life, more that I need to experience. Right now I feel like I haven't done anything with my life, and like I need to be more brave. Not stupid, just brave and more outgoing. Luckily, a friend is willing to help me expand my horizons and get out of my shell now.

So grab a friend, or a sibling, or a stranger. Experience life with other people. Leave the technology behind for a while, and let other people show you how wonderful life can truly be. Don't sit around waiting for the good things to happen; go out looking for them, and try to make every experience a good one.
In the movie "Signs," the character Merrill Hess is a former baseball player: he has five minor-league home run records. But more importantly (for my purposes at least) he has another record; he also has the minor-league strikeout record.
"He would just swing that bat as hard as he could every time. Didn't matter what the coaches said, didn't matter who was on base. He would just whip that bat through the air as hard as he could." ~Lionel Prichard talking about Merrill's record.
To me, this is a great example of going out and living: he is out there, giving it his all, doing his best because just sitting around felt wrong.

So stop reading, get outside, and do something. Grab a friend and get into trouble together. Chase the stars, stay out past sunrise, and have an interesting story to tell someone. Don't Just Exist. Live.