I want it all

I have a sort of serious question:  Is it okay to do things just because you can?

Cause that's what I keep doing.  I obviously and staunchly believe no one should do evil, mean spirited, malicious or hateful things "just because they can."   But the things I have been doing aren't harmful to myself or to others, so, I don't feel bad for them and I don't regret them after doing them.  That said, they aren't for everyone, so I understand the reaction I get from people, who ask, "why would you do that?"

And I just hope my answer, "because I can," is sufficient.  I don't want it to seem trite, or flippant, or moronic.  I don't want to come off as selfish, irreverent, or impulsive.

"Because I can" is the best I can conjure up.  And maybe I should couple it with the disclaimer, "and because I never want to say or even feel 'I can't.'"

Because somewhere along the way to growing up, I developed an aversion to "I can'ts" coming from anyone who technically can or theoretically could.  Obama successfully clinching the presidency in 2008 on his "yes, we can," slogan must have reinforced the aversion.

The thing is, a year before I'd come to terms with the fact that there are people who really can't do one thing or another because of their station, because of the way cards were stacked against them, because of injustice in the world, because they run out of time or are crippled by fear, because they care too much about what other people think, or because they don't have the means or the mindset allowing them to see that they actually can.

I adopted a mantra when I was training for the marathon a few years ago.  I ran with a charity - the melanoma foundation.  And thinking on the reality of the circumstances brought about by melanoma, and cancer in general, and tragedies, and heartbreak, and disabilities, 8 or 9 miles in to a training run one Sunday afternoon, "we run for our cause, we run cause we can" came to me.

Pretty much ever since, I've done what I wanted when and if I could.  I've thought to myself, "do I want to do this? Can I do this?" And when the answers been yes, I've just gone and done it.

I'm watching the TONYs tonight (naturally) and Renée Elise Goldsberry took home the award for her role in Hamilton earlier in the evening.  She expressed immense gratitude for a multitude of blessings.  She got the gifts of her two children, and she got this win.  Can you want it all AND get it all?  Sometimes the answer is yes, you can.

So it's okay to want big.  It's okay to go big.

And it's a serious question I'm asking, but I'm also answering it for myself and making the argument that yes, it's okay to do things just because you can.