this, right here, right now, is our life.

But I do know this.  I have a great life partner in Sheryl, and whatever happens as I move forward, it will be fun.  And as Madonna said, “I won’t let success fuck up my fun,” because I put less and less value on success.  It’s the process that counts.  it’s the people I get to connect with, most of whom will never be famous or want to be  It’s the intention that gives the action value, not the results.  Most actors (and many people) start out to please others.  The trick is to truly value satisfying yourself.  Working from that place, being in fellowships without an agenda, brings satisfied excitement; that, today, is fun.

A while back, Diana Nyad, a sixty-four-year-old woman, after two decades of trying, swam from Cuba to America.  At her same age, my mother lost her battle with breast cancer.  Life is unpredictable and has very different plans for all of us.  There will be heroism and tragedy; each new day has the promise of both.  Learning to live in (and accept) that dichotomy provides the adrenaline to always move ahead and be grateful for what we have.  It can power us all to great things if we recognize it.  It can be the source of our greatest possibility, to know and feel with every level of our own consciousness that we are alive.  That this, right here, right now, is our life.  It is not our parents’ or our children’s, not our husband’s or our wives’.  It is not made more or less valuable by our job or how much we have in the ban.  Our life is ours.  It is the only one we will ever have.  And we should love it.

– Rob Lowe, Love Life