When we are faced with dangerous situations, we always say, "it is a matter of life and death", but do we really realize that almost everything we do leads us closer to death. It sounds very somber, but it's easier to be comfortable with it than to run away.

Over the past few years, not only have I, but the world has faced such traumatic and heartbreaking deaths. From natural disasters and illness to school shootings; there has never been a silence of lives being lost. Rest in peace and with love to those who lost something or someone. From personal experience, I lost a few family members very closely in time to one another. It took a big toll on me and my families lives.

My grandmother was my Mom's mom, she was a perfect grandmother and I remember how funny she always was. She was the rock of our family.

My uncle was my Mom's brother. He was such a caring and funny uncle. He was always a very focused man, espeically with his medical billing business that he owned. I worked for him for a short while and I loved seeing him every day.

I had this really great friend. They were so funny and always such a caring person. Never failed to put a smile on my face. They took their own life.

This really nice guy in one of my college classes knew one of the students in one of the University shootings.

What I want to explain is that each one of these people died in a different way but they all died, regardless. Every time I think of these people, I don't think of how died, why they died, when did they die, etc, I think about who they were as a person. When I think of who they were, I remember that they were not helpless, but they also did not choose to be in the situation they were in before they passed away. I like to believe that faith decides who is meant to live longer and who should pass away by say, choking on a hot dog.

I have read two books so far that have made me really believe that life and death are both beautiful and natural things.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom, which in it he wrote, about the "interconnectedness of all humans" and what can be after death.

and When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi who explains how he treated and took care of his patients; then became the patient himself in a world where friends and Paul, himself, have an illness that is incurable.

These books, and I'm sure there are much more, have created an outline of life for me. They have given me more compassion and have granted me with guidance that I can use for my own health and guide others to a more peaceful understanding.

Photo by Alana Charboneau

At the end of When Breathe Becomes Air, I wrote an Instagram caption (some lines were taken out to avoid spoiling):
"In my perspective, experiencing life and death and reading about it is a really different feeling. From reading this book, I've learned how incredibly grateful I should be to doctors and nurses and neurosurgeons and oncologists for understanding and having so much care in what they do and how they do it. I find it very ironic whoever told me to read this book recently, even with them not knowing a thing. It helped me to better understand. They all learn to overcome these things and while he's living, experiencing these things, he is learning the meaning of life and what makes it worth living? The resistance between believing in God or believing in scientific knowledge. Why make someone struggle when they could just pass away with ease. What can he, as a surgeon and a human being, do to help these people survive or leave the world without feeling pain or suffering...---------- "Even if you were perfect the world isn't. The secret is to know that the deck is stacked, that you will lose, that your hands or judgment will slip, and yet still struggle to win for your patience. You can't ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote towards which you are ceaselessly surviving."- Paul Kalanithi." - Alana (Me).