As humans, we tend to be a little selfish by nature. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's good to look out for yourself and to make sure all your own needs are taken care of. The trouble with this is that when we go through hardships in life, we sometimes let these events affect us to our core – even allowing them to change our life and future entirely. It is of the utmost importance that we decide to let our most difficult challenges change us for the better, and never the worse.
When I was just 12 years old, I experienced complete devastation for the very first time in my life. It was a cold day in December, just a week shy of Christmas, when my family lost everything. I came home from school that day, only to realize that a psychotic neighbor had murdered my step-father, injured my grandfather, and burned my home to the ground. As I faced the loss of such an important person in my life, I was informed that nothing from our house had been saved. Just like that it was all gone. Looking back on these events now, it's still crazy to me how within one day your whole life as you knew it can be stripped away from you. My family went from having what we thought wasn't everything we could possibly need to lead happy lives to having nothing but each other. At first this was a very hard truth to swallow, but as the shock of it all wore off, it became clear that the we had a choice to make. We could let this tragedy make or break us as a family. With this decision, my family came to the ultimate realization that although all we had was each other, that was more than enough.
In the days that followed, we learned a lot of vital life lessons. We held each other a little closer and learned to never take a single moment for granted. Appreciating the small things in life, such as family meals together and the simple comfort of having one another to lean on, became first nature. Going through so much loss taught us to love more deeply and to live more genuinely. Every single day is a gift. Living your life to its fullest potential is the only way to truly appreciate that gift.
So, if you ever find yourself facing a challenge or adversary in life that you just don't think you can overcome, try to remember that it's not the difficulties you face, but how you let them change you. You are the ultimate decider. Will you let your hardships destroy your life? Or will you let them make you stronger, wiser, and ready to take on your best possible life.
