Spice Up Your Life

Colors of the world
Spice up your life!
Every boy and every girl
Spice up your life!
People of the world
Spice up your life, aahh

...anyone?


MTV celebrates it's 30th anniversary this year. They are allegedly recognizing this at the VMAs (Video Music Awards) on August 28th. In light of that, they are playing music videos spanning those 30 years in the few hours they actually still play music videos (can we start a petition please?).
I discovered this while getting ready today, with my TV tuned in to MTV. Usually such mornings are filled with the sounds of Katy Perry, Kanye West, and Taylor Swift (oops, are they allowed in the same sentence?), but today was different. Today, I heard the likes of Pink's "Get this Party Started", something beyond my generation by Paula Abdul, and then...

La la la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la


When you're feelin' sad and low
We will take you where you gotta go
Smiling dancing everything is free
All you need is positivity
Colors of the world....

Can you name that tune? If you guessed "Spice Up Your Life" by the Spice Girls, then give yourself some credit.  If you didn't, then please don't judge me. They are totally relevent to my generation.
While their lyrics aren't necessarily mind blowing, you gotta give 'em credit for something. I'm not sure what exactly, but we can at least give credit to Posh for marrying and birthing perhaps the most attractive people on earth.

Every girl identifies with one of them. Like your spice cabinet, no matter how dated or dusty they may be, there are options.

Me? I wanted to be Baby Spice. Maybe it had something to do with her blonde hair or the fact that baby doll dresses were still in style. Or maybe that I, too, was the baby of the family. Only a few times was I caught coloring the tips of my beach blonde hair with a blue marker in Social Studies with Mrs. Cadwallader. I of course denied any association with Baby Spice.
Ironically, just a few weeks ago, I found myself deeply engrossed in "Spice World" --ya know, their movie? It was on T.V., and it was my day off. What can I say?
As I watched, Sporty Spice imparted some of her wisdom on me.

"It just shows you you can't go back. Nothing's the same."

I can't be sure what she was actually talking about in the movie, but her advice couldn't be more true.
You can't go back. Nothing's the same. Each person only has one life to live. We make decisions daily that not only effect our day, but also our future. We are who we are because of the decisions we've made, and the decisions we make today effect who will one day become.
It's easy to look back and wish we had done things differently. It's also easy to wish we could go back to "the good 'ol days." No matter which category you fall under (sometimes a ltitle of both), there is no sense looking back, wishing things were different. The way I see it, if you wish you'd done things differently, then you are probably living in 1) regret 2) guilt and 3) bitterness. If you wish you could go back to the good 'ol days, then you're probably living in 1) the past or 2) bitterness. Either way, you're not fully living in today.

Even if you could go back, it wouldn't be the same. You are a different person now. You are who you were created to be. While you may not be perfect (actually I know you're not), you have a unique story that make you you. If you don't like who you are, looking back won't help. What will help are the decisions you make today and the attitude you have making them.

So go ahead, spice up your life.