Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Today is one of those days. You know the kind. The clouds are gray and swollen and your stomach flutters in anticipation of the coming snow. Wrapped in a quilt and snuggled in your warm home with a cup of cocoa, you sit and watch... prepared for that which has been promised to you-- a magical, beautiful, hopeful scene of glorious snowflakes.

As I sit and wait, I am reminded of a handful of conversations I have had in the last 24 hours. It seems that many of my friends, whether men or women, single or married, working or in school, happy or sad, with or without children... many of them have this same sentiment: we're all waiting in anticipation for our life to "begin."

Yesterday, I laughed with several friends as we semi-jokingly discussed the merits and need for a Yenta. This morning, someone sought my advice about "game-playing" and he asked me:  in regards to other people, how transparent is too transparent? This afternoon, I chatted with a friend who struggles with complacency with their life and fear of trying something new.

In each of these conversations, the topic always came back to this truth: we are waiting for our life to begin. It is as if we believe that only once we are married, or have a certain job, or have a child, or buy a house, or fight for ourselves, or travel the world, or make a lot of money, or... only then, will our life truly begin.

As I have tossed this idea around today and taken stock of my own life, I realize that this is true for me as well. I keep waiting for... I don't know what. For my life to look the way I want it to, perhaps?  As any of my friends will attest, I am no risk taker. I live in a world of beige. I always pick the path well-traveled. I am sensible and vanilla and... boring. I have big dreams but rarely pursue them or do anything to achieve them. I avoid vulnerability and often fear looking like a fool in front of others. The irony, though, is that those times when I have protected my ego at all costs are the times when I have been the most foolish. They are the times I have missed out on something spectacular because I was afraid, because I wasn't willing to trust, because I was insecure, because I was stubborn.

I cant not help but wonder how I think my life will ever "begin" if I am not willing to take a risk.

Then, I remember this truth: I am in my home, curled up with a quilt by the Christmas tree. There is a Christmas movie on tv and cupcakes baking in the oven. My pup is snoring quietly beside me and my phone keeps buzzing as family and friends call to share a piece of their life with me. Yes, I am waiting for the snow to work it's beauty and magic in my day, to add a special glisten to my afternoon, but my day is already full of love and joy and pure happiness.

Sure, those snowflakes will add to the splendor, but even if the snow doesn't fall, my life has begun. And it is already good and special and magical, just the way it is.