Life’s hard. There’s no denying that. There are highs and lows, ups and downs, but that’s what makes life exciting and worthwhile. In the past month, I’ve experienced both elation and devastation. It’s through this devastation, though, that what makes you appreciate and cherish those moments of elation. You realize that life brings those hard times unexpectedly, which is why you need to live life to the fullest – you never know what tomorrow will bring.

When most people meet me, I try to be happy and positive. But what most people don’t know is that I’ve overcome struggles, experienced hardships, and sadness. Things that have made me realize that the small things, those tiny inconveniences that we so often let ruin our day, are incredibly insignificant. We often tell ourselves that these things don’t matter, that we won’t let the little things get to us, but far too often we fall back into that pattern. However, when you encounter those hardships, it becomes easier and easier to overcome those issues.

When I was just starting middle school, my sister suffered a catastrophic brain injury that left her in the hospital for nearly 100 days. She had to relearn everything, from walking to talking, even eating. She was on a feeding tube for 5 years. My family watched as time and time again she came close to death, and every time she overcame.

More than once my family watched, knowing that the outcome was beyond our control and out of our hands. But now, coming up on 10 years later, we are still a united front. The joy of seeing her improvements and all the struggles she overcame made our family incredibly close and ensured that we appreciate every single moment, never taking a second for granted.

Life throws things at us that sometimes don’t make sense, that seem unfair and confusing. But no matter how hard those things are, life goes on. You have to keep going. Even though it may seem like you can’t go on, you have to try. What I’ve learned through my own experiences is that you have to take every struggle and hardship and use it to motivate you, to make a difference.

What my family experienced was terrible, but we didn’t let it break us. We allowed it to make us closer, to appreciate every day and to try to make a difference in this world. There’s no denying that I didn’t ask time and time again why did this happen. But it did happen. And unfortunately, there’s no way to change that.

It’s hard when at times you see people freak out over minuscule things. But in the grand scheme of things, those tiny things, which at the time may stink, don’t actually matter.

In life, the true things that matter are being happy, being surrounded by the people you love, and leaving a positive impact on the world. That is what is important in this world.

I encourage everyone to try to not sweat the small stuff, to keep positivity in their lives even when their world seems to be falling apart because that’s life. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it. We only have one life, so it’s important to make the most of it.