Recently three little words have really kept me going. Maybe you’re like me, tired and confused and scared and wondering what the heck is the purpose of life anyway. Maybe you’re not like me; you know why you do what you do every day, and you’re working towards a goal.

Regardless, I think these three words can hold great meaning for everyone:

I am alive.

Yes sir, yes ma’am, I am alive. I may not like it, I may not want it, I may not understand it. Some people may even argue with it, saying we are all just figments of our imagination, nothing is real, etc.

For the time being, please disregard those ideas. I’m assuming that human beings are actually real, and that they can be very much dead or very much alive, and being alive means their hearts are beating and brains are making waves. The scientific view of things, I guess.

From all that I am aware of and believe, my heart is beating, my lungs are functioning, my brain is working (maybe too much, but still working).

I am alive.

These words have given me hope in a time when I don’t see much hope. Not in the world, not in my own life, not in every day, not in my own mind.

I don’t know what I’m doing with myself. I don’t know what I really enjoy, or if there’s anything. I don’t know why I get up in the morning, except that I have stuff I have to do.

I guess I get up because I’m alive.

And that may be what’s really kept me going: I open my eyes in the morning and think, “Well, I woke up again. My heart is still beating, my lungs still pumping, my brain still working. I am, apparently, alive.”

In my mind, then, I must be here for a reason.

You may not be religious in any way; you may believe all of life is just chance. That makes being alive harder to justify, but still I think it’s possible. For whatever reason, one I may never know, I am still alive today. Fate (or God, or whatever you believe) has just so happened to continue to let me be alive. And even if it is all just chance and there’s nothing left after this, well, maybe life, even if short-term, is better than death, forever.

I believe God keeps me alive; I believe trying to take my own life is interfering with some greater system (not that I am not tempted every so often). Even so, I think those words “I am alive” can apply to everyone.

Even to those of you who aren’t struggling with the meaning of life (and there’s nothing wrong with that—in fact I envy those of you who know why you are here). Perhaps these words can help you stop, look around, at your own hands and feet even, and realize, “Yes, I am alive, and what a blessing it is. I could be dead right now. I could not get to be here, I could not be able to do any of what I’m doing. I could not get to enjoy relationships with others, I could not get to enjoy eating good food and creating things. I could be able to do absolutely nothing. In fact, I could be nothing.”

The fact that you are alive means that you are a human being—that you are being. You be, and from that, you have the potential to do. Only something can be alive. Nothing cannot be alive. I don’t think.

I think I’m confusing myself.

Maybe I’m making no sense. But maybe I am, even just a little bit. I simply thought, in case any of you are struggling like I am, I might share something that has been on my mind lately. And even if you’re not struggling like I am, maybe this thought can help you remember what a blessing life is.

For whatever reason, I am alive. So be it.