For as long as I can remember I've wanted to go to Tuscany. I've dreamed of retiring there, and from watching too many idyllic movie scenes I've imagined myself walking through a vineyard, barefoot, in a flowered dress, drinking wine and sharing huge spaghetti meals with friends and family from the surrounding villas. It all seems so carefree and peaceful, soulful and contented. But for all these years that I've dreamed of going, I've never actually made a trip to Italy...until now. Thanks to an amazingly generous 50th birthday gift from my oldest daughter, I write this while sitting in a lofty flat near a market square in Rome, feeling about as blissful as possible. We have spent the past week touring Tuscany, Florence and Rome, enjoying beautiful landscapes and wonderful food, as well as each other's company. 

I've thought a lot over the past couple of years about how to live my life with meaning. I very much want to make amazing memories and build beautiful friendships, but I also want to give to the world in some way that leaves things or people better than I found them. My parents both passed away within the past few years, and when cleaning out their home I found a note my mom had written my dad - a very short, simple scrawl on a sticky note attached to a news article about travel. It said, "Maybe we should get passports in case we are able to travel someday." Both of their lives ended much too soon, with virtually no warning. In their early 70's they each still had what seemed like a lot of time left to do those things they had saved for their "later years." They worked, raised kids, and saved their money... so that someday they could enjoy life. But that day did not come for them and now will not. How sad I feel for my parents, for not having lived their lives as fully as possible, throughout their lifetimes, and then missing the opportunity. I want to learn from this lesson, and make the most of every day so that I have no regret and do not feel like I missed out on opportunities to live.

This is the third time my own daughter has been the catalyst for me to travel internationally. Because of her adventurous nature I have been to St. Lucia, Istanbul, Amsterdam and now Italy. Without her, I may have let fear or procrastination hold me from these amazing experiences. I feel the impetus within myself to take more adventures, and be more involved in really living my life. While I am someone who tries to make the best out of any situation, and strives to be content, peaceful, and even happy on most days, I believe it's helpful for someone else to push us beyond our comfort zones to help us really expand our horizons and our own world. See things outside your normal scope, look at a situation through other people's eyes, and walk in someone else's shoes. 

Do not wait to live. Don't put off those things that you say you will someday do. Just do them.. plan them... look forward to them and then dive right in and enjoy every moment. You never know what may become an obstacle to future opportunities, or may even shorten your time here. Live like every day is special and meaningful, whether you have 100 days remaining or 100,000 days remaining. Feel. Be. Saturate yourself with goodness and with life and with moments and memories. Let yourself breathe in the opportunities around you and exhale the plans and dreams you have for yourself, as you're experiencing them. 

Later is so far away.... don't wait. Now is the time... now is an important moment. Don't miss it.