I’ve heard many people make statements like “Born alone. Die alone. Or “It’s Me Against the World.”, that allude to the desire to be alone in this vast world made up of about six billion people. These quotes are pretty absurd and quite limiting considering that between birth and death, there is this rich experience called life.
Being alive is about the interactions and connections with people. These include our family, friends, teachers, love, and enemies. These relationships help us learn more about life, the people we interact with and ourselves. These interactions take us through the range of emotions, which allow us to feel…feel alive.
Yesterday was a telling day for amplifying how quickly life can be taken away from us. We all have been personally touched my a loss of a loved one, but nothing is more of a reminder than the death of a unifying public figure. I am saddened by the loss of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and the victims of the Iran Election Fallout this week. Many people say that death comes in three, but it also comes as a theme. In addition to these very public loses, there was one story that recently affected me. The first was a story about my travel companion’s classmate who died after falling a few times skiing. She was in a coma and was not expected to wait up. After a few days, she miraculously woke up and was functioning with no problems. During that time she had a chance to talk to her parents, boyfriend and others. Unfortunately, she had surgery and never woke up from the surgery. I am not doing this story justice, but my point in sharing it with you is to describe its impact on me. Something about this story gave me a pit in the bottom of my stomach. I remember having this feeling only twice before. I don’t know what it was about this story that made me feel this way, but it made me take notice….take notice of my own life and how I want to live it.
Whatever or whomever’s story it is that you connect with, I encourage you to allow those feelings to drive you in some way. Sit up and take notice of the things that make you happy and do more of them. Take a chance and do the one thing you’ve always wanted to do. Do something right now that will make you smile, because life is nothing more than this moment.
Location: In Madrid about take a road trip to Granada, Spain to see the Alhambra.