Live!

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow! What a Ride!'" — Hunter S. Thompson

I want a life filled with a spirit of reckless abandon and to live it to its absolute fullest. It echoes a philosophy of embracing the wear and tear of experience rather than playing it safe. I am after resilience and finding joy in the moment, regardless of the surrounding grit. To truly live is to embrace the "wear and tear of experience", aging is not a decline, but as a testament to a life "earned" through active participation, resilience, and finding profound joy amidst the grit of existence.

Hell, I don't mind getting old. I mean if my muscles ache, it's because I've used 'em. I got a few wrinkles here and there, but I've laid under thousands of skies with sunny days. I lived and I loved, danced, sang, sweated and screwed my way through a pretty damn good life if you ask me. Getting old ain't bad. Getting old, that's earned.

I think mother Teressa was someone like that. She is often associated with a very different path, her life was defined by an extreme, uncompromising devotion to her purpose, choosing to immerse herself in the most difficult circumstances—the ultimate grit—to find and serve joy and humanity, embodying a different, yet equally intense, form of "living life to the absolute fullest".