I have always been told to not take things for granted and to cherish every breath I take. Honestly, I did not do much of either when I was younger. I lived in my own world of teenage angst and by-the-rules hedonism as much as my household rules would allow. When you are young in this world, your youth allows you to drift through each and every day without many of the burdens of this world -- not to say that we could all be so carefree, but it was a simpler time.
Growing older changes everything about the way you think: you contemplate what you are going to make of the rest of your life, how to make money without compromising all your happiness, and what your legacy will be. After many milestones in life, these thoughts run to the front of your mind. Well, at least they do for me.
I never felt an urgency for life until I watched my father lay motionless in his casket. At 20 years old, I had to come to grips with the fact that my dad was dead. While I will spare you the details, a relationship between us never truly existed until a couple of months before he passed. It wasn't until after sitting in a church and seeing him being prepared for his grave that I realized... one day that will be me. I also regret to inform you, dear reader, that it will also be you.
That last point wasn't to scare you. (I hope someone already told you your day was coming.) Instead, that fleeting feeling that is in your stomach now that you have read the dirty truth is a reminder. It is your personal reminder to live your life. Within the past year since my father's funeral, I have battled with letting that feeling paralyze me and keep me from realizing some of my greatest potential. I also had to learn to let go of the past and not let it affect the future.
Life hits us in unexpected ways, and I never thought I would be living through a year-long existential crisis at age 20. You hear the clichés of living each day like it is your last and to seize the day. But are you? Why do we wait until these fleeting moments to appreciate life to the fullest? What about tragedy and sadness inspires us to get up and do better? Maybe it is that reminder that this life is all that we have.
Dear reader, do me a favor. Before you hit the lows in life, take a moment -- right now -- to take a deep breath and appreciated that you were given today. Take in the sun a little more. Run in the rain sometimes. Enjoy and rejoice in everything that you have been given because we are lucky to experience this beautiful world.
