Life is a funny thing. It has a way of jumping out at you at random times to remind you that you’re living it. You get on a streak of a bunch of good things happening and then, BOOM! There’s life’s right hook to your chin. It’s not always bad. Sometimes that haymaker knocks some cold, hard sense back into you. Sometimes, life is gentler, it’ll wrap you up in a fuzzy blanket like your mother tucking you in before bed. No matter what, though, life is always unknown.

We all wake up every day with the possibility that this could be our last day, yet we roll out of bed each one of those days and begin our daily routine. Every day is never exactly the same, though. Some days there are small variations like brushing your teeth after you shower or brushing them in the shower for you go-getters out there. Occasionally, the variations are larger like waking up on moving day or a holiday and every once in a blue moon, you have a day that changes your life forever.

These days are ones that you never forget. Their images are etched into your mind as permanent reminders of what happened to you. The experiences are woven into the fabric of your being and become as much a part of you as your eyes or your ears. There are some good experiences and some bad ones, too. The contents of these memories help define the person you will become in your future. The amazing and scary part about it though, is that we never know when these days will show up.

We think we have an indication at times that one of these days are upon us. Maybe a big opportunity drops on your doorstep. You get a call from a job you’ve always wanted or a date with the most incredible girl you’ve ever met. We think these will both be the blue moon days but then they turn out to be just a larger variation on a regular day.

At least, that’s how it seems.

But you never really know, right? It’s impossible to predict the future. That’s how the saying goes.

People tend to be scared of the unknown. Maybe it’s our pessimistic outlook we take too often that causes us to fear what we don’t understand or know. However, fear is only one emotion that we can choose to embrace. We don’t know what is in store — so choosing to feel joy, or hope, or love, or happiness are all viable alternatives to letting fear control us. Just because one opportunity seems to disappear, doesn’t mean it will be gone forever or a better one won’t take its place.

Life is unknown. And because of that, you should enjoy it as such. Take every situation on its own. Think about the future… but don’t worry about it. Embrace the unknown for what it is worth. Who knows, maybe that incredible girl will read this and smile knowing you’re thinking of her.