This i believe

Imagine if you were told that you are suffering from a terrible illness and that you have thirty days to live, how important would each day be to you? You would do everything that you have ever wanted to do, you would go on that life trip, you wouldn’t take that time with your family for granted,  you would tell that crush how you really feel, you would give life your all. That’s how I want to live. February 19, 2009 was a life changing day for me. I was in a tragic accident with another car in the middle of an intersection. I was in the passenger seat and my dad was the driver. We had the right of way, but an out of control truck came flying out of the corner of my eye and slammed straight into us. I had a fraction of a second to think before we made contact with the truck and so many different things went through my mind in that small amount of time. I thought that was end of my life, I thought that was it.

I never thought that my life would end so early, I always thought I would grow up and have children and die at an old age. For the first time in my life I came in close contact with death. I started to regret my life because I didn’t complete everything that I wanted to in this world and I felt helpless. Helpless because I wished I could do things that were so readily available to me before. I wished I could tell my mom I love her one last time. I wish I could be a better bigger brother for my little brother. I wish I could take advantage of all the time that I used to have on my hands because in that moment I had none, and there was nothing I could possibly do to change that. That moment was so powerful to me in so many ways, it truly changed my outlook on life itself.

I woke up in a hospital bed the next day not knowing what had happened. They told me I suffered a concussion and that the seatbelt saved both my life and my dad’s life. Even though my whole body ached, I couldn’t be happier. I felt like I had a new chance at life, and the whole accident was just a terrible dream. In my eyes, this was my chance to start my life over. From that day on, I’ve always made sure that I have a smile on face no matter what hardships I may face. Were all lucky to be alive, to be able to breathe, to be able to spend time with the ones we love, to do whatever we want in this world. Sometimes we forget how blessed we all really are. The simple fact is that life will pass you by whether you like it or not, but how we choose to live the rest of our days is our choice, and I choose to live them in the happiest way I can.

I believe in living life to the best of my ability and having no regrets when I’m lying in my death bed. I believe in accomplishing everything that I have ever dreamed of doing. We only live for a short period of time, and many people don’t live life to its full potential. When we look back on life, we notice that it’s only a collection of experiences. Now is our chance to experience the things we love, travel to places we’ve always dreamed of going, and simply live life. Don’t take life for granted, because we aren’t promised tomorrow. If you ask your grandparents what they regret in life, they will most likely tell you that they wish they could have taken advantage of their youth and traveled to the places they wanted, or spent more time with their loved ones. I don’t want to be like that, I want to make every minute count. I want to live like there’s no tomorrow.