appreciate life

My whole life changed in one moment.  Until you have experienced this you might never truly understand it.  I probably should have died that night in my residence room or in the days after when I did not sleep.   

Yet, for some reason, I survived.  And I am grateful every day for this.

I love life and appreciate life so much.  Mostly because I know that in any moment, everything can change.  I appreciate that I am here.  That I am healthy.  That I can wake up and breathe the air, feel the sun and simply live.

We honestly don’t know what is going to happen to us tomorrow.  I learned this at twenty.  I had to grow up pretty quick because of my illness.  Maybe that was a disadvantage, but in some ways, I gained a little bit of knowledge and wisdom at a very young age. 

Life is funny sometimes.  We all think we have years, that we are all going to live to 80 or 90.  That is not always the case for all of us.  You don’t know what the universe has in store for you.  All that I need is for every single person to appreciate life, to understand what I understand.

Living is actually quite amazing most days.  I don’t mean skydiving, climbing enormous mountains, or going on adventures or trips, sure that is living too and great to do as well, trust me I like a nice vacation. This is not the living I mean. Truly living sometimes just means waking up every morning and being grateful, thanking the universe for all that you have, loving everyone around you and treating everyone you meet throughout your day with love and kindness.  That to me is appreciating life, truly understanding that you may only have this moment, that you were able to wake up for another day and you are thankful for simply being alive.

Maybe I feel this way and appreciate life because I know what death feels like or maybe because I know that tomorrow, even later today, might not happen or maybe because I know that your whole life can change in one moment. 

All I need you to know is that I do what I love to do every day.  I choose what I want to do every day.  I enjoy every single minute of every single hour of every single day.  There are no words to explain this feeling.  It is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness to the universe and God for giving me more years than I thought I would ever have.  I do know that I might not be here tomorrow and because of that, I will be forever grateful for each and every day that I am alive.