Are you a liar, thief, cheat, or drunk?

Never lie, steal, cheat or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away. Old Irish Drinking Toast - also quoted in movies like: Hitch, Leap Year, Love is a Four Letter Word, etc.

Here's the original toast from the Irish:
"May you never lie, steal, cheat or drink.
But if you must lie, lie in each other's arms.
If you must steal, steal kisses.
If you must cheat, cheat death.
And if you must drink, drink with us, your friends."

I like it. It's the best kind of "degenerate" to be. If I'm going to be a liar then I want to be the kind that spends my life lying in the embrace of my husband. If I'm going to be a thief I hope, I pray, I'm only the kind that steals away the negative and bad from the lives of others so that joy can replace it. Cheating death is not really an issue with me, however. We all die and our days and the length of them are determined so I don't think you can cheat death. But I do think we should cheat a life lived in mundane ways. (Seems to be a theme with me this week - perhaps my travels overseas inspired this talk of living a fuller life.) And I want to drink deeply the life I've been given. I want to take long gulps and let it drip down my chin even. I want to be drunk on this life that is waiting for me to grab hold of it and savor it. If I'm going to be called a liar, thief, cheat or drunk then I certainly hope it's in reference to living life large.

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April 5, 2015

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