The Hedonist

A few days ago, while nursing my six-month-old early in the morning, I was enviously reading about the weekend plans of hip twentysomethings in my Twitter stream. "Breakfast at Crema, browsing at Grimey's, then the art stroll.......shop at Sephora, see a movie, then dinner with the girls.....Farmer's Market, then Porter Road Flea Market, then Jeni's Ice Creams...."

Gee, I thought. I guess that type of life no longer exists for me. I wish I had taken advantage of weekends and had that kind of fun before I had kids.

And then I realized I had heard that somewhere before.

Before I had kids, I was thinking, "Gee, I wish I had that kind of fun in college."

In college, I was thinking, "Gee, I wish I had that kind of fun in high school."

Suddenly, I saw my life stretched out before me. And the underlying theme? I wish I had more fun. Every age, every era was filled with unnecessary worry and stress, and I didn't realize until much later that the worry was swallowing up my potential, my life.

I've always been the serious, over-responsible type. But today, I'm resolving to have more fun. I'm not likely to lay down my prudish ways any time soon, but I hope I can look to live a lighter, freer life. I aspire to a life of trusting God's plan intrinsically and enjoying His Creation. A life where I rest in His beautiful gift of Grace and teach my children that every day is a celebration of Our Savior. A life of dancing, community, love, forgiveness, faith, and freedom.

And maybe, if I'm really brave, I'll even take my kids to a coffee shop.