The holidays are upon us.

For those of us who are fortunate to have a family to spend our winter breaks and Thanksgiving breaks with, we need to remember how lucky we are for having a family to spend time with.

We don't have forever.

In the blink of an eye, our entire life can change, that we should all know by now. However, we still end up so caught up in our own lives that we would rather sit in our college dorms or apartments watching Netflix than to go home for vacation and be with family. Yes, being told by family that you need to eat food, or lose weight, or even be more social can be exhausting, however, I would rather take that, and have those awkward conversations, than to completely write off my family and me alone just to avoid those conversations.

Our time with our families is limited, there's only so many times/excuses to get together such as holidays, birthdays, or few special occasions, but once they're gone then it's too late. It's easy to think "I really won't be upset to miss out on these down the road," but that's much harder to fathom when you don't have the option because your family members have passed away.

The older we get the more common this becomes grandparents, parents, siblings, etc. We need to take advantage of the time we do have one another because it only takes one day for that to be taken away. So during these holidays, please take advantage of the time with loved ones you have, don't be the person that is filled with regret because they refused to show up to a family event due to the possibility of being uncomfortable or annoyed. The holidays are known for bringing people together, so please don't take that time for granted.