Picture this: You are on your way home from work around 5 o’clock in the afternoon and the rush hour traffic is horrible. You pick up something for dinner for you and your family so that no one will complain that there is nothing to eat at home. When you finally get home, you kick off your shoes, put the dinner on the kitchen counter, and hurriedly go change out of your uncomfortable work clothes. Then, suddenly, you get a phone call on your cell phone. The person tells you that your dad has been in a horrible car crash and he is being airlifted to the hospital…
The beautiful gift of life is so very important to each and every one of us. We are all given the gift of life, but do we really understand how lucky we are to have life?
We are each given the gift of life when we are born. As we grow up and live our lives, we sometimes end up just going through the motions. We go to class and don’t really listen to our teachers. We go to work and don’t put our hearts into our work. We go home and see our family, but we don’t really appreciate them. We need to stop going through the motions of life. Instead, we need to put our heart and soul into life. This is the only life we get and we should make the most of it. We need to live our lives to the fullest each and every day. If we are happy, we need to be so happy and elated. If we are sad, we should show our true feeling and tell others exactly why we are sad. If we are mad, we should yell, scream, and cry, not just bottle up our emotions.
Many people take their life and the lives of loved ones for granted. We should never take our lives for granted because you don’t know when your life or the life of the ones you love could be taken away. If you have ever had a parent, grandparent, or sibling die, then you can understand what true loss is. You know what it is like to have someone there one day, but then they are gone the next day. We shouldn’t just expect to be able to live another day. We are so lucky to be given a life and we should strive to not take this life for granted.
Living your life to the fullest can be difficult. Not taking your life for granted can be even more difficult. Therefore, I challenge you to tell your family that you love them. By just saying, “I love you,” to a family member can make all of the difference. You are recognizing that they could possibly be taken away from you at any moment. By saying these three simple words, you are telling someone just how important they are to you and how much they mean to you. We need to let our loved ones know that we appreciate them and that we don’t take them for granted.
I also challenge you to look at yourself. Do you like the person you have become? And do you like the path that your life has gone on? If the answer to both of these questions is “no”, then make a change in your life. This is your life and you need to live it the way you want your life to be lived.
Strive to make good changes in you and your family's lives. Live your life to the fullest each and every day. Say. “I love you,” and love the life you were given. Appreciate your family and don’t ever take their lives for granted. We are only give one life, and we should love this life.
