This past weekend it was incredible spending Thanksgiving with my family. I enjoyed seeing all of my crazy wonderful family members. I got to see my great grandmother, who just turned 95. I would love to name every life experience that she has had, but that would take a novel to document them all. Needless to be said, she has not wasted a moment of her nearly century-long existence being ambitious and passionate as well as going after everything she has ever wanted out of life. Her daughter, unfortunately, lost a battle to cancer at the young age of 55. Yet, she also took advantage of every second that she resided on this Earth traveling, exploring, and speaking her mind.

Life is such a precious thing. It can be filled with joy, laughter, tears, anger, and a myriad of other emotions. You can make your life almost anything you want to. You can choose the path you take and the connections and relationships you make.

Time is another crucial piece of our existence. The time that we are on this Earth is far less certain than the life that we choose to live in the duration. So many factors contribute to the amount of time that you are alive. Your life can be long and you can reach your 90's and even triple digits. Alternatively, life can be cut short by disease, accidents, combat, etc.

My intent with this article is not to be morbid. We all know that death is an inevitable occurrence that we all eventually succumb to in one at one time or another. My intent is to provoke your thoughts about the portion of our existence that we can control.

Every individual is capable of defining their passions and exploring them to yield a more fulfilled and joyous existence. There is the old saying: you cannot choose your family, but you can choose your friends. Surround yourself with people that enrich your life and help you to squeeze everything out of your existence that you are striving for. We cannot always control when we get laid off a job, lose someone special in our lives, or experience any number of obstacles. Yet, we can control how we respond to them. Sometimes you will find that tough times even yield positive outcomes that far surpass the magnitude of the initial negative event.

So, you can never know how much time you will have to live your life, you can only choose to make the most out of every moment that you get. Explore your dreams and aspirations and don’t be afraid to take chances in order to achieve them.