Get Out of Bed and Step Into Life

There is something deeply powerful about the simple act of getting out of bed each morning.

It may sound ordinary. Wash your body. Put on your clothes. Comb your hair. Make yourself presentable. Have something to eat. Make a plan for the day.

But these simple actions carry a much deeper message:

“I am choosing to participate in life today.”

There may be mornings when you don’t feel motivated. There may be days when you feel tired, disappointed, lonely, overwhelmed, or uncertain about what lies ahead.

But you cannot always wait for motivation to arrive before you begin living.

Sometimes, action comes first and motivation follows.

So get up.

Take a shower.

Put on clean clothes.

Look at yourself in the mirror.

Take a breath.

Put a smile on your face—not because everything is perfect, but because you have decided that you are going to meet this day rather than hide from it.

Then make a plan.

It doesn’t have to be a grand plan. Perhaps there are only a few things you need to accomplish. Perhaps you simply need to get out of the house, speak to someone, walk in the sunshine, do some work, or help another person.

The important thing is to step into life.

Don’t sit around waiting for life to come to you.

Go out and live.

Go out and be.

Go out and connect.

Go out and love.

Go out and serve others.

Because perhaps one of the greatest purposes we have is not simply to ask, “What can life give me?”

Perhaps we should also ask:

“What can I give to life today?”

There is something healing about becoming useful to someone else. A kind word. A phone call. A helping hand. A smile. Listening to someone who needs to be heard. Doing your work with care. Encouraging someone who has lost hope.

You don’t have to change the entire world.

Sometimes changing one person’s day is enough.

We can become so focused on what is missing from our own lives that we forget the abundance of what we can give.

So tomorrow morning, when the alarm goes off, don’t immediately negotiate with yourself.

Get up.

Wash yourself.

Dress yourself.

Comb your hair.

Make your bed.

Look in the mirror and remind yourself:

“I am here. I have another day. And I am going to live it.”

Then open the door and step outside.

Meet people.

Meet opportunities.

Meet challenges.

Meet life.

And wherever you can, serve another human being.

Because life isn’t only something that happens to us.

Life is something we participate in.

And sometimes the first step toward a better life isn’t a massive transformation.

Sometimes it’s simply this:

Get out of bed.

Get yourself ready.

Make a plan.

Put on the smile.

Open the door.

And go and live.

Today is here.

Go and be part of it.

— Gerald Crawford