I am such a believer in living your life now, in the moment, with urgency and this is a part of my life I’m amping up more. This weekend I put that concept into action and I LOVED every minute of how it transpired, the experience, and the life long memory it created.
I blogged about this (Live Life Now) four and a half years ago as an episode of the Rich Roll Podcast with Jessie Itzler really moved me. It’s amazing to me I wrote that over four years ago and I’m not getting younger.
I consciously think about racing duathlons and know that could disappear in a heartbeat. So, while I’m healthy (and that’s questionable currently) I’m going to press as hard as I can and compete in as many National and World Championships my body allows…now!!!
That urgency applies to other aspects of my life…what do I want to do NOW? One thing I love is live music and when it comes to one of my favorite bands, I look for as many opportunities I can to see them…never know when they hang it up…and it brings me a lot of joy.
That brings me to this week. On Wednesday, I needed a little hop in my step as I’m figuring out what’s going on with my knee/legs…Worlds is looming and I need to go all in soon but need to be healthy… So, Wednesday I looked up where Better than Ezra (BTE) was playing as I know they are touring with their new album released a couple months ago…FANTASTIC by the way. What I found was they were playing in Columbus, Ohio Saturday night.
Thursday I looked into logistics with many options including what Columbus weather was as it was an outdoor concert and had to consider flight delays (leaving Tampa and arriving in Columbus). The forecast looked great from a no-rain perspective and it was going to be hotter than Tampa Bay if you can believe that but that was no concern.
Friday came along and I figured it out…I could train in the morning, fly in the afternoon, and fly back early Sunday morning to train again. One curveball popped up. On Thursday, there were 30~ Hilton Hotels that had rooms and cheap! On Friday, they didn’t have a single room available in any of their hotels. I thought to myself – this adds to the adventure and I’d figure it out. Worst case scenario, I ordered body bathing wipes I could bring with me… I booked it! You don’t want to know what happened regarding my sleeping situation…
After training Saturday morning, I hopped on a plane to Columbus. I arrived and had already found my plant-based restaurant option via Yelp. Zammy’s Vegan Kitchen was on the way to the concert and was the #1 rated vegan restaurant in Columbus. I drove to Zammy’s where I had a buffalo chick’n sandwich and cheesy bacon fries. I was full…
From there I headed to the concert and I worked some Super Magick (album title…ha) and there I was…first row…dead center! I met several fans as passionate about Better than Ezra as I and we had a great time! I have seen them in concert a boat load of times with Kevin Griffin (lead singer) being almost like a stand up comic between songs at points. He is incredibly witty and you always leave a BTE concert entertained. Playing several of the new tracks, hits from other albums, the sound being fabulous and how close I was…I think this was the best performance I’ve seen from the band and Kevin.
One song that has inspired me since they released it, is the title of this blog, and hits the concept of living life now, Live a Little. The video they put together is incredibly inspiring…along with the lyrics that hit the spot for me…couple examples:
- “You gotta wake up every morning…see the day as a gift”
- “You gotta check that bucket list before you go to the crypt”
- “If you wanna light a fire then you gotta get lit”
- “You wanna go home with the prize…you wanna see your name in lights…you better learn to sacrifice…take your love and your blood and put ’em on the line…”
- “Life is waiting…why be patient”
- “Go big…get loud…or go home!”
- “You gotta live a little bit…live a little bit…live a little…”
WIth many things in our lives, things hit us when we need it and I needed this spark…the song, the band, the experience, the reminder, the inspiration and the memory will last a lifetime…
Live life now…we never know…
– Live a Little Bit and Add Health to Your Life
The Healthy Giraffe 
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