Upon viewing the movie "Collateral Beauty" it made me want to write down my thoughts towards love, time and death. In the movie, Will Smith's character, Howard, suffers a tragedy and his way of coping is by writing these letters to love, time and death as a means of therapy. Now, I haven't recently gone through a tragedy, but there are enough things that I have gone through in my life that have allowed me to be able to build strong opinions of each love, time and death. It felt incredible to finally get these thoughts off of my chest.

Love,

You’re the pineapple on top of a pizza; you confuse me. At times I think I have you all figured out, but then you switch things up and leave me scratching my head. Your rules change like a game during recess back in grade school. You’re all around me. You’re at the grocery store in the checkout line with a cart full of food. You’re sitting on a park bench on a sunny Saturday afternoon. You’re at the restaurant sitting next to me as I wipe my mouth with a napkin. You’re in the same spot at church just a few rows ahead of me. You’re modeled for me everywhere. I see you in movies and on television shows. I hear you in songs on the radio about you being found by some and lost by others. The shape of a heart often goes along with you. You’re celebrated often. People remember you for the good things you’ve done to them and the bad things you’ve done to them. We consume alcohol to celebrate you, but to also forget you. We lose hope when we’ve lost you with somebody that was very near to us. We swear you off for quite some time and curse at the thought of you. You may escape

Time,

You are the thing that I can't get enough of. I need you, but you are never there. When I have you, I waste you on sitcoms about friends that are unrealistic. When you are here, it's only for a short while. Why can't I save you for a rainy day? Do I only get 24 hours for a day? That's not nearly enough. That's not nearly enough of you to get my homework done, to finish that project at work, to visit grandma, to watch my brothers game, to get enough sleep, to show how much I love her, to make dinner and to relax. You are constant and flowing. You are a pissed off driver. You stop for no one. You leave us with little memories of you in albums that we keep and videos that are on our hard drives. One day we will run out of you. We don't know when that day will come. We don't know the year, the month, the week or the second and that's the beauty of life. We don't know when you'll ever leave us, so we need to treat you like every day is a goodbye.

Death,

You send a chill down my spine. You make me want to turn on all of the lights in the house with the amount of darkness you bring. You’re gum that gets stuck on the bottom of shoes. You’re the hook stuck in the young fisherman’s hand. You’re the box of clothes collecting dust tucked away in the closet. You're the drunk driver. You’re the airbag that didn’t go off. You're the cancer. You're the heart attack that took away my grandpa. You’re the knock at the door. You’re the phone call nobody wants to answer. Some people greet you with a smile, but most greet with you with tears and heartache. You come for all of us, but at times in which we do not expect. I wish I could ask you why you took people in my life away from me, but all you would be is silent. Silence is what you leave when you come around. You come over unannounced like unexpected company, but the next time I see you, I wish to not see you for a very long time. You’re a madman who is set on destruction. You’re a tornado tearing everything apart in its path. You leave pieces scattered behind and it’s up to us to put things back together and try to get things back to normal. You’re a shitty guest.

Try sitting down and writing a letter to love, time and death. You'd be surprised at how therapeutic it can be.