"Let me be SOMETHING..."

I'm nearly finished with "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Great book. Very thought provoking. It is taking me longer than it normally would to read this book because of everything else going on around here. But I really like it. I may even read it over again before I take it back to the library.

My quotes from the book for today:

"I am old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise;
Regardless of others, ever regardful of others.
Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,
Stuff'd with the stuff that is coarse, and stuff'd with the stuff that is fine."

"'Dear God,' she prayed, 'let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry...have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere--be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost.'"

It started me thinking about how much I value this life I have been given. Do I really live each moment, each day, to the fullest. Do I know myself? Am I true to myself? Do I appreciate how wonderful it is just to be alive? Am I doing with my time what I really want to be doing? Am I seeking out the things I need and want and hope for within the hours of each day? Am I being "something every hour of my life"? Am I making sure that "not one little piece of living is ever lost."

Perhaps there is more to be found in the bounds of my chosen life. Perhaps I can be more than I have allowed myself to become. Perhaps I will discover new "somethings" in me. Perhaps I will want to change or replace a few "somethings" in me. It's up to me.