Mediocre isn't enough.

It's 1:36 a.m., the house is quiet all but the t.v. humming in the background from my mommas room, and I'm embracing it.

I'm thinking.

Church is still 9 hours away and I think I can afford a little writing to quiet my mind before bed.

For 3 months or more, I've been thinking about trying to live a life that's better than mediocre. It's something that crosses my mind every single day at least once. Living in a small town where everyone knows everyone, and most people return to after getting their bachelor's degree in education or something very traditional, makes it easy to get caught up in "mediocreness". It would be so easy for me to finish my degree, come back to this little town, get married, have babies, and let that be that. 

But I'm deciding I want more - and I'm setting my mind to it.

It's not easy. It's not easy at all. I've written a lot lately about where I find joy & my comfort zone. Both of those things come in my house that's always been my house, in the same old paths that I've always run, in the same gym I've gone to for years, and other things that have always been the same.

Except, I'm realizing that by sticking with the routine, my life is mediocre. If I never travel, I will never know about how other people live, something that is so important to being a well-rounded person. If I never run a different path, I'll never know how hard my body can truly push itself. If I never take jobs that I'm not a little unprepared for, I'll never know that I can overcome challenges and that I can work with different kinds of people.

I've decided that life is too short to be mediocre.

& your life is too short to be mediocre too.

The really awesome thing about being 18 and a freshman in college is that the world is a blank canvas. If I wake up one day feeling a little spontaneous, I can act on it. (& on days I'm feeling less than spontaneous, I should push myself to be that way even more) The world is my canvas and the colors I use to paint that canvas is my prerogative. Screw black. I want reds and purples and yellows and oranges and sequins and glitters too.

And darn it, I'm gonna have it.

& If I haven't been enough inspiration to at least make life a little less mediocre today, check out Kelle Hampton's blog. Nothing is more inspirational than that.

borrowed from