Nearly every single day, we hear that something horrible has happened to someone, somewhere in the world. Whether we hear it through the news, or online through social media, we are constantly reminded that we are all mortal and that bad things can happen to good people.

I cannot count the number of times that I have heard of a sudden death in someone's family and thought "God, that is so sad. My heart breaks for them. I can't imagine what it must feel like." Because it is horrible to hear that someone has died, or that multiple people have been hurt by the after-effects of a tragedy. There is nothing bright or sunny about it.

I have written about losing my father to cancer -- how it changed me as a person, how much I looked up to him, how important it is to cherish your loved ones. What I haven't written about, though, is the feeling that came over me the night that I found out my father was descending into the very, very late stages of lung cancer.

And through my head raced a thought I'm sure many of you recognize: "This is something that happens to other people."

It wasn't that I felt exempt from the hardships of life. It wasn't that I felt special or deserved only the good things. Every single person has that same thought when they get their own unexpected, terrible news about a loved one.

This only happens in the movies! This happens to other people! How is this real? This isn't my life. WAKE UP.

But you don't wake up. Because it's not a movie, it's real, and it's your life, and you're forced to deal with it.

What is it that makes us think bad things won't happen to us if we just don't think about them?

I believe in the power of karmic energy and the fact that you attract the vibes you put out into the universe. I believe in it so much so that, I wonder sometimes, what kind of vibes was my 16-year-old self putting out into the universe that I deserved to have my father taken from me by an invisible monster?

I remember imagining I was reading it on someone else's timeline - "My dad was diagnosed with cancer today. Please keep us in your prayers." It felt as if I was watching my own life happen from far away. I could feel my friends' pity and sadness and I knew that all of them were sorry for me, but so thankful that this wasn't happening to them.

You never think that it'll happen to you, until it happens to you.

It's easy to forget that you are one of billions and billions of people in the world. No one is picking on you, personally. There is no finger pointing down at your head, saying: "That one. Get her! She deserves the worst today!"

I promise. The fact is, you are someone's "other person." All of us are capable of being someone's "other person." And that is a scary thought.

Losing my father taught me that I am not exempt. I am not special enough to be ignored in the face of tragedy. I am not anyone to think that harm can never touch me or the ones that I love. I can't live in an ignorant shadow. I can't go on forever just hoping that nothing bad happens to me because bad things only happen to people I don't know.

Or on television.

Or on Facebook.

We must keep in mind the fact that life on earth here is limited. We aren't immortal and we absolutely must understand that anything, and I mean anything, can happen in the blink of an eye. The day I found out that my father had cancer, I was at school goofing off with my friends at lunch, talking about what we were going to do that weekend. That night, I was in tears wondering if my life was about to change forever.

I'm not writing this to terrify you or to encourage you to stay at home and never risk your life for anything. In fact, I'm telling you the exact opposite.

Life comes at you fast.

You never know if you'll make it to next week, much less next year. And you don't know if your family members or friends will, either. That's just how things are. I don't make the rules and neither do you. It's a scary thought.

Do the things you say you're going to do, say the things you want to say, and love the people you want to love. Be who you want to be. You've got 100 years, more or less, to get as much as you can get done, done. Don't procrastinate.

Don't doubt the fact that things do happen and you are human, just like everyone else.