There are 50 people dead and 53 injured due to the massacre that occurred at a gay night club in Orlando, Florida this weekend.

It's a heartbreaking tragedy that's been sweeping over T.V. news stations, online news sources, and social media. Everyone has something to say: whether it's a simple respectful recognition, or a long and opinionated Facebook post on the topic of gun control, we all have thoughts and opinions concerning the calamity that happened in Florida. This article is from an entirely unpolitical viewpoint. I speak as an individual with no political views towards the subject and strictly about the victims whose lives are now gone or changed forever.

When news stations cover a story or journalists write about an incident, we see right away how many innocent people were killed or injured due to the selfishness of an outside individual. Unfortunately, shootings aren't an uncommon occurrence anymore and hearing about the newest one might sound like a repeat. How are people still this disgustingly evil? How are people still this crazy? Shootings are still happening and they're more common than ever. Have we become used to it? This incident is what's said to be "the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11." This isn't something to just pass by when it pops up on the news or social media. When we see headlines of shooting or death, we automatically feel sad and sorry for the individuals who had to go through the experience, the friends and family's of the individual affected by the tragedy and the community in which it happened.

I don't think that many of us look much further into the victims of the devastation. These people who are grouped together as the "50 who have died" and the "53 who are injured" are more than just a random person in that number. They are individuals who have their own complex lives with their own complex problems and happinesses. They're just like you and I. They may be going to school and possibly struggling to pass a class. They may be working overtime at a job they hate. They may have been on vacation in Orlando. They may be a mother, wife, husband or father. They might be someone's brother, sister, cousin, aunt or uncle. These victims are an important piece in families and friendships. They had dreams to accomplish, places they wanted to go and goals they wanted to complete. With a person as young as 22-years-old, they have all the time in the world to accomplish their dreams and make something of their life-- until it so unexpectedly got demolished.

The 50 people who were killed in this tragedy no longer have the opportunity to fulfill their life dreams. They no longer have the opportunity to make the most of their lives and do what they've always wanted to do. For the 53 people who we're injured from this devastation, life is not ever going to be the same. Whether they're in critical condition or stable condition, they've all been affected either physically, emotionally or mentally. They too might have had their dreams so unexpectedly and unfairly stripped from them due to a physical, emotional or mental injury.

When we see the number of people directly affected by a tragedy such as death or injury, try to become completely aware of what has just happened. Each individual matters and each individual lead their own unique lives that might not ever be able to be continued.

With the exposure of this crisis, we are able to shed some light onto the LGBT community. One person didn't like the LGBT community and decided to take it out on innocent individuals and cause a catastrophe and that is entirely and completely inexcusable. However, we are now able to see the discrimination and pain that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals go through due to the actions of such rejecting individuals. It was this community who were direct victims of this tragedy. Discrimination is extremely prevalent and currently there are no federal protections for LGBT civil rights. Individuals who classify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are not different from anyone else. Sexual orientation doesn't define who a person is and this community needs our support, especially after an incident of being so directly victimized.

We can pray for the people who've died or been injured and we can pray for the families, friends, co-workers and acquaintances of those who have been affected. While you're praying to lift the pain from the hearts of the victims, their loved ones and communities, take the time to appreciate your own life. You never know how quickly the life of your family member, best friend, significant other or even your own could end. Appreciate the life you live and try to make the most of it. Life is too short to be unhappy or wasting time doing something you don't like. Life's too short not to be living out your own dreams and accomplishing all the goals that you've wanted to.

Despite how heartbreaking it is to hear of such a tragic event taking place in our country, we aren't able to genuinely feel how utterly devastating and traumatically life-changing an event like this can be on someone directly affected by it unless it happens to us. Nonetheless, we can be there to provide our support and prayers, while not taking anything or anyone in the lives we're living right now for granted.