Zest.:

I have been noticing lately, that I seem to have an extreme ZEST for life, even more so than most people...I mean sometimes I feel like I could explode because I am so grateful and excited to be alive. Most people around me seem so cynical or indifferent about life. I don't know when my feelings, my passion for living began. I assume I was born this way, but I am so thankful that I am this way. Maybe it's living in New York that has really opened my eyes to how much I do love this life that I have been given. I think possibly, it has been the contrast between this great, big, amazing city and my hometown. Most of all, it is the realization that I love them both. A lot of people move from their home town to a city like New York to get away. They are trying to get away from what they don't like about their previous destination or maybe they're running from someone? I was never running away from anything, only running to something. That one fact a lone has given me the freedom to openly love both places. I love them both equally. (Well home is home, so nothing really compares, but...) I love home for the grass and the trees and for the fresh open air. I love New York for the energy, the buzz, the excitement, the every day newness of it.

I hate generalizations so rather than saying everyone, I am going to use the word, "others"...Others seem so negative. I have never considered myself an optimistic person but I just think on the whole, my life is way too good, this earth is too beautiful, for me to waste time being negative. I want to do it all and I want to remain grateful for every second of it. Yes, I have bad days. Don't we all? But really what is wrong with wanting to run through the rain with a smile on my face? What is wrong with wanting to climb a tree and spend hours listening to the leaves be blown around by the wind or look at the sun shine on a lake? People need to slow it down and be thankful for what God has given them. Thank you God for this beautiful day. Why walk around uptight waiting for the bottom to fall out? Others get so stuck on being independent and thinking it is a good thing to be "hard" or tough that they no longer allow things or people to make them happy, to stir their emotions. I know too many people that would rather shut people out and miss out on experiences, because there is a chance it might not be perfection, they might get hurt.

I guess it all comes down to this...I would rather fall on my butt, have my heart broken and be laughed at for trying than to be alone, dissapointed and depressed because I never tried.

Zest

–noun

1.

keen relish; hearty enjoyment; gusto.

2.

an agreeable or piquant flavor imparted to something.

3.

anything added to impart flavor, enhance one's appreciation,etc.

4.

piquancy; interest; charm.

5.

liveliness or energy; animating spirit.

6.

the peel, esp. the thin outer peel, of a citrus fruit used forflavoring: lemon zest.

–verb (used with object)

7.

to give zest, relish, or piquancy to.