Other top banished words and phrases include:
  • Bucket list.
  • Double down.
  • Trending.
  • Superfood.
  • Boneless wings.
  • Guru.
  • Job creators and job creation.
  • Passion and passionate.
  • YOLO.
Released annually, in tongue-in-cheek fashion, the list contains words or phrases nominated by people from all over the world."
2 points to note: i'm no poster child christian, and i don't want to be reincarnated :-)
and another point--the purpose of this blog entry--i disagree with the last banished word/phrase, so i'm quite happy it made the list.
yolo, in texting language, stands for 'you only live once.'
i don't believe you only live once. the bible says each day is new and a fresh start. i believe each day is a chance to live. again. if yesterday was a right off, you can amend any wrongs, make restitution if necessary, and start over.

each day is a clean slate begging for your penmanship.
i get the phrase; it's not that it's incorrect, but it's not entirely accurate either. we do only live once in the physical sense. we have one body and one life to live (was that a soap opera? a soap opera that made at least one correct claim?!? :-) ) anyway, in a real way, we live once and have one life. but, we literally have the chance to live again each day that we're alive. each day is another opportunity for moments that matter...not just minutes on a clock, but moments. this concept of moments versus minutes is taken from a home going celebration message that i heard my pastor back home give one time. he was much more thorough and spiritual but his message stuck and means more than ever to me these days as i fight for my life. certainly, my days are filled with minutes as i pass the time until the next test, exam, bone marrow aspiration, round of chemo, etc., but i am making a more concerted attempt at achieving moments and not just marking off the minutes--even on days like today when it seems like all i do is watch the clock and count the days until i'm discharged from the hospital...because today's moments are tomorrow's memories and i want to make sure i have lots of positive in my conscience (and subconscious) cache of concerns :-)

nicki minaj has a song called "moments 4 life." i'm no loyal fan, but i do feel a certain allegiance to some of the lyrics:

"i fly with the stars in the skies
i am no longer trying to survive
i believe that life is a prize
but to live doesn't mean you're alive...
in this very moment i slay goliath with the sling...
no, i'm not lucky, i'm blessed, yes
clap for the heavy weight champ, me
but i couldn't do it all alone, we...
i wish that i could have this moment
for life, for life, for life
'cause in this moment i just feel so
alive, alive, alive"

and to qualify the above usage, i agree that drawing breath doesn't mean i'm really living--those are just minutes on the clock. making moments and memories? that's living, and not just surviving or existing. and i believe i can have this moment for life...this moment where--despite, and in the face, of my temporary condition--i realize each and every day that i am alive...and i don't believe i have ever felt more alive, regardless of what's going on in my body.

on this day, january 14, 2013, i am currently admitted to the juravinski for more chemo treatment. i am in part 2 of my consolidation cycle (not including my initial 7 day induction cycle), with one more to go in february. after that, my team will decide if chemo has done what it needed to do or if i require more chemo or possibly a bone marrow transplant. in the meantime, i'm not just playing the waiting game, but the living game. and at the end of this game there will be a prize, and i am believing with every fibre and cell of my being like the narrator in victor hugo's les miserables states that "faith brings health."

i have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. and as my body physically allows, i am living every day, doing my best to make moments and not just mark off minutes. i'm not just living once, but every single day, with every single breath.

i dare you to do the same.

 because God's got this!!!