This past week was full of awful news from Israel, Ukraine and even my own hometown. The problem is that terrorism, war, and violence plague countries other than our own so often that sometimes, we don't take a minute to realize how lucky we are that we aren't the ones being affected. That is, until something happens on our own soil...or five minutes from your house.
This past weekend two boys from my high school were killed in a drunk driving accident. While I didn't know either of them personally, one of my best friends did, and quite frankly even if she didn't, I still would have been floored by the news.
Why do things like this happen? Is there really a lesson to be learned from the death of good people? I've never been a very religious person, but the only thing that gets me through situations like this is looking at what we could possibly learn from life's cruel twists and turns.
In this case, the obvious answer is that it is NEVER okay to drive after drinking, or to get in a car with someone who you even suspect was under the influence of any sort of substance. This is something that's drilled into our heads from the moment we enter high school (or 7th grade nowadays), yet things like this keep happening. We learn that we should just take a cab, have someone we trust walk us home, set up a DD ahead of time or at least find a friend who lives nearby to crash with if you can't get all the way home.
But, to be honest, I think there's a whole other lesson that we're missing.
When was the last time you told the people you care about how much you mean to them? And no, I don't mean a simple morning "love you" before you leave the house, or before you hang up the phone. By all means, we should all do that anyway, but I mean REALLY tell people how you feel. For example, I'm a little shy when I'm sharing my feelings with people in person, but (as you can tell) I'm definitely a fan of writing, and I find it easiest to tell people how much they mean to me when I send them a birthday card/text/social media post/etc. Birthdays are a great excuse, but let's be real, if we happen to be thinking how lucky we are to have someone in our life, we should just send them a quick text or call them up. Who doesn't love a surprise message from a close friend or relative, especially when it's been a while since you've seen them? I found that I didn't truly appreciate all my amazing friends from home until I was away from them freshman year of college, and I didn't appreciate all my college friends until the summer after freshman year. It's terribly sad, but we tend to not realize how grateful we are to have people in our life until they're not in our life anymore, whether that's temporarily or permanently. I think that changing our mindsets a little bit can change that.
On another note, have you ever stopped to think how unbelievably amazing it is to live? I know it sounds dumb and cliche but any person sweet enough to be reading my blog right now is so lucky to have the chance to be hanging out and reading stuff online.
We only get one shot. If your one shot was taken away from you right now, would you say that you've truly appreciated your life and lived it to its fullest up to this point? Don't be embarrassed to say no, because I know the answer is definitely no for me.
It's okay to get scared sometimes, and it's okay to let that fear get in the way every once in a while. It's okay to be a little shy and not introduce yourself to every single person you're attracted to, or every person you knew in high school when you feel too awkward to confront when you run into them back home. It's okay to not be 100% open with people all the time, or to keep certain things to yourself instead of sharing them with the whole world on social media.
But it's not okay to make excuses for ourselves on a daily basis. It's not okay to tell ourselves we're not good enough, or not worth it (because you ARE). It's not okay to hate, or to spend more time putting others down (whether in front of them or behind their back, it's never okay) than lifting them up. It's not okay to ignore the turmoil in other countries because it "doesn't affect us." It's not okay to let others change who we are, or to let us believe we're something that we're not. It's not okay to forget how lucky we are just for being alive.
I know this is a popular athletic attire brand's motto but I feel like it applies-just do it. Get out there. Tell someone you love them (especially if that person doesn't already know). Apply for that job you didn't think there was a chance you'd ever get. Introduce yourself to that really sweet person that kept smiling at you from across that room (or even ask for their number-hey, it's on my bucket list, not even kidding). Don't hold back. Compliment people. Make new friends. Open your mind. Find what you're passionate about and never give it up. Be who YOU want to be, not who somebody else wants you to be. Set goals. Try. Fail. Succeed. Laugh. Learn. Travel. Eat. Drink. Be merry. Let loose. Dance your @$%& off. Love.
Live.
You are amazing. X O
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