"I have arrived at my DESTINY!"

And a reminder from Up that: "Adventure is out there!"

Last summer, I found myself living in Colorado Springs. As in, one day I just woke up and what do you know? Living in Colorado Springs. It was important to me to find ways to contribute wherever I traveled or lived for longer than a couple weeks, and through JustServe, I found an organization offering “respite date nights” for parents of children with disabilities.

For that Friday night, I was paired with the very active sister (coincidentally named Emily) of a child with disabilities and I was glad I’d worn comfortable shoes for all the running she required. In between our playground sprints, she liked to visit one particular play structure, a mostly enclosed plastic thing in which she could sit comfortably while I spun her in the summer heat.

She pretended like it was her spaceship and on one of the 117 visits to it, ended the ride I’d made possible with an enthusiastic shout: “I have arrived…at my DESTINY!” Of course she meant to say “destination,” but didn’t. Her malapropism still delights me to no end.

This kid gets it. Life really is not about a destination or “arriving” at happiness. It’s about having experiences in life that make you feel alive, maybe even feeling like you’re living part of your “destiny,” doing some of the things you’re meant to do, things that God put in your heart to bring you and others joy. You know, the kind of risk-taking that yields the zest for life that Little Emily had. And, I’d wager, still has.

It all reminds me a bit of this clip from the movie Up. The way she, like a female version of Tom Sawyer, declares, “I ripped this page, right out of a library book” cracks me up. Even if I can’t get onboard with such desecrations in real life.

What I can very much get onboard with, though, is the attitude of “adventure is out there!” and doing something about living that way, right now? And I bet you can, too.

Here's to your big dreams, the wonder of being human, and to really living. See you in the next one…

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