Life Is Our Priceless Gift

Life, that precious gift that so many have yet to appreciate. Personally speaking, for the first 11 and a half years of my being, I took it for granted. Although I had attended the funerals of several relatives, all had been much older than me. So, I quickly developed the idea that only older people were dying. It sounds naive, but I didn’t really know any better and never asked any of my elders. Then, shortly after my 11th birthday, and a few months before my 12th birthday, reality hit me twice when two well loved young people in my family passed away five months apart. The first was the death of one of my favorite female cousins, who was just 16 when she passed. This was devastating to me because I looked up to her as more like a big sister. And to this day, her death remains a mystery to me because I don’t understand what happened to her. At least five months after losing her, while still trying to learn to cope with her loss, my oldest, and only maternal, brother lost his life while to safe another. This was truly devastating for the entire family, especially so soon after losing another young family member. And as our family began to deal such great losses, I heard an elderly family member say, “It’s sad. But that’s life, one day you’re here. Next day you could be gone.”

Since then, life has been something I value with each breath I take. I wasn’t always careful during my teenage years, mainly because of my desire to want to fit in. And I’ve experienced bad things in my life that many in my family are not aware of. But instead of holding bitter grudges about the negative things that has happened to me, I see those things as lessons learned. It’s only natural for me to think, “if only I had known," once things have happened. But I refused to dwell on the errors made in my past, before becoming a parent.

The word life has been broken down to personal acronyms by many individuals, especially those who are highly motivated. To keep myself motivated, most of the time, I have broken down the word life to mean "living in faith everlasting." With each breath I take, I know life is a gift that should never be taken for granted. Still, there’s always a moment or two when negativity tries to bring me down and sidetrack me from my goals. It’s during those times when I’m feeling pumped and encouraged, that something unexpected, and unwanted, will become a distraction. However, as a person with a Christian upbringing, I believe everything happens for a reason. It’s like I’ve always heard “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger” and it’s true.

But with each new day comes a new opportunity to do better than the day before. What may have seemed impossible the day before may just be possible on a new day. Goals can always be reached as long as there is breath in your body… life. It can become discouraging when no matter how much effort you put into reaching your goals, seemingly, you’re getting nowhere. How many times have I wanted to just give up because I felt like “success is not for me?" Many times, I assure you. At my age, I feel like I should be there by now. And though I haven’t reached that level of success that I’m striving for, I won’t give up. I take each day as another chance to improve myself and my strategies for reaching my goals. I know there’s a reason my life is being spared daily, but I don’t know the exact reason. What I do know is that I have a strong desire to succeed as a writer and a businesswoman, online and offline. Those are important goals that I can gravitate towards daily, such as writing, as long as I’m blessed with life. So, why I’m living in faith everlasting, I’m working hard on my goals to bring them into fruition. And I’m sure by faith it’s going to happen for me. Life is a priceless gift for me because it has taught me so much and continues to teach me, even at 54. Hey, you’re never too old to learn.