Magnetic zest

I got some pretty solid advice from a magnet yesterday.

"Live your life with zest."

It was a nice find in the Target $1 section, where many of life's hidden treasures wait for lucky suckers to stumble upon them. You might wonder why anyone would need random magnets with cheery little sayings on them, but you'd be surprised how many Save the Dates and Christmas cards a person can get.

So, as I sat there on a Friday night watching Tangled, waiting for the Rangers game to start, and suffering from what was quite possibly one of the worst cases of food poisoning known to man, I was able to reflect upon just how much better life is with a bit of zest in it, and Rapunzel is living proof of this. I mean, look at how boring her life was living up in that tower and never getting to experience all that the world below her had to offer.

There was no zest.

Then along came Flynn Rider (well, Eugene), and everything changed. Suddenly, there was zest, and suddenly there was happiness.

Suddenly, there was love.

Cheap wisdom

I really love the word zest (how can you say it without feeling happy and spunky?!), and I love the value it adds to things when used in adjective form. And I really love when magnets tell people to make sure they have zest in their lives.

And the great thing about zest is that it can come in so many forms.

A new pair of running shoes needs to encounter dirt or a puddle or at least some morning dew to make some marks and add some zest. No one wants clean running shoes—that's not zesty.

Notice how many people have become addicted to Pinterest? That site is full of ways to add zest to one's life, whether through recipes, new hair styles, or those quirky and sassy picture e-cards that say fun things on them, such as: "I prefer not to think before speaking. I like being just as surprised as everyone else by what comes out of my mouth."

Ever do something a bit daring, like skydiving, telling a guy how you feel about him, or performing Taylor Swift's "Love Story" to an entire crowd of unexpecting guests at a wedding reception? I think we often do these things because we need to spice our lives up a bit—we need some zest.

You know what I think is the best way to add zest to your life and to the lives of others at the same time?

Love.

It's sometimes hard to show love, especially to people to whom we don't necessarily want to be loving—you know, the ones who challenge us the most. But by doing our best to love others and truly show them who Christ is, we are sprinkling little seeds of zest all over the place.

And then you will be able to let others desire to know the depths of Christ's love and the fact that He can turn up in the most unlikely places—even on a $0.25 magnet (it was a pack of four).

Life is definitely not always easy, and there are times when it can be extremely challenging to let love win. But you have to dare to be different.

Dare to be zesty.