In this day and age, we all seem to be wishing our life away. Always counting down until the next major event in our life. Counting down the days until we start kindergarten and then until we graduate college. Counting down the days until we can finally drive on our own, giving a life to our need for speed. Counting down the days until we can finally have a sip of that cocktail we've craved to taste for so long. Counting down the days until we get married and have kids. The list goes on and on.

Yet, as I think about this constant race to grow up I find myself looking to my grandparents and how they have set an example to live my life. My sweet grandparents have lived such a wonderfully full life. They had their own list of aspirations, their own list of countdowns per say, and have successfully accomplished each one and more while never failing to show their love, and that right there is what I want.

As I look towards my grandparents and their life shared together I am inspired of what a truly exceptional life can look like. However, I am reminded that life cannot be rushed. In order to experience, and I mean truly and utterly experience, one must live in the moment. My grandfather always said, it's "better to grow old than to die young," and he meant it.

Life is meant to be lived until the very last second possible, and never to be taken for granted. My Papa believed in a life that was meant to be embraced, and not to be overshadowed by the superficial idea of youth or perfection, because one day those things won't exist anymore. Life is meant to be flawed. It is meant to be filled with hard work and passion, because those things will always be true, you will never out grow them.

My grandparents also taught me that happiness stems from within. Therefore, in order to truly be happy, and to shine your light throughout the world, you must first be happy with themselves. You must have the confidence of a mighty lion. You must have the strength of a grizzly bear, ready for any obstacle life throws in your way while also having the compassion of a teddy bear.

Once we find the peace in ourselves then we can share it with the ones we love, just like my grandmother has done all of her life. My grandmother is the definition of fierce. She constantly reminds me that no matter what that one magazine, the news, or that cute boy in my class says, I am wonderfully and fearfully made. I can be anyone and anything that I want to be. I have the power deep within me that once I reach, will be strong enough to conquer the world.

But most importantly she reminds me the importance of loving.

“Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star.”- E.E Cummings

I have come to realize that none of this is possible or even important without the most important thing: Love. Love can be beautiful or painful, it can be exciting or scary. Yet no matter what it makes you feel, it will always be there. In our darkest moments and our quietest of thoughts love will always be there.

My grandparents have given me the courage to love. They have given me the gift of their love. They have shown me the importance of loving myself, my life and every minute of everyday because quite frankly life is beautiful and it is worth living, and for that I will be forever grateful.