A Beautiful World, a Life That's Too Short & Plenty of Big-Girl Panties

 “She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful and life was so short.” –Brian Andreas.

Not only is life short, but it also seems to fly by at breakneck speed. And like most everyone, I often find myself short on time. I wrote a post here recently in which I lamented my many shortcomings of 2011 and promised to model my future behavior after the illustrious and prolific Harry Harold, the Heagler Elf-on-the-Shelf. I even went so far as to strongly imply that I would send you a birthday card in 2012. It’s possible I spoke too soon, however, so please don’t hold your breath. I’d hate to be responsible for your passing out and hitting your head.

After the 2011 autism walk, the co-chairs of the event and the Pacific Northwest Manager of Autism Speaks invited me to dinner to celebrate our success and talk about the 2012 walk. I knew that they would ask me to be more involved in the planning committee and on the day I was scheduled to meet with them, my roommate, the consummate volunteer, sat me down over breakfast and gave me a talking-to about knowing when to say “no."

I went to dinner fully expecting them to encourage me to become a full-fledged member of the planning committee and reasonably prepared to say “no.” So you can imagine my surprise when they asked me to co-chair the 2012 Walk. Co-chair an event of this caliber? But that's a big-girl job! And even more surprising than being asked was hearing the word “yes” come out of my mouth. I’m still not entirely sure what came over me. I am, admittedly, a little concerned that I've agreed to something that’s beyond my skill set. But I’ve decided to put on my big-girl panties and give it my best shot (fortunately I have about 47 pairs from which to choose—big-girl panties can be hot-pink lace or leopard-print...right?). So 15 minutes into dinner and I'm co-chairing Walk Now for Autism Speaks Puget Sound 2012 (and did I mention 2013 as well?). Why not, right? Now that the holiday season is over I have an open slot in my schedule from midnight to 2:00 am.

In 2012 it’s likely I’ll continue to cry at least once each day because the world is so beautiful and life is so short. But the cry will have to be brief because I have a lot of work to do. And nothing could make me happier.