“I think being in love with life is a key to eternal youth.”
Everyone has a right to their own opinion and I respect that wholeheartedly. This is my story and why I am so passionate about life.
I am in love with life. Isn’t it such an interesting thing? Think about it about in its simplest form – we were all blessed enough to wake up every morning and make a difference and I intend to do that every single day. There have been numerous times when people have told me to grow up, to which I always answer them why? I love connecting with people, making others happy/laugh (no matter how silly) and helping them become the best versions of themselves. All we genuinely have in this world is each other. Why be anything but kind and caring towards one another?
My house mate and fellow SCL scholar, Chaz, will tell you he hated me the first couple of weeks. Why? “Because you are always happy.” When he first told me this, I immediately died laughing. As I mentioned earlier, I am in love with life and I have been blessed in so many ways that I do not take for granted a single day that I am on this Earth. If you have read any of my earlier blogs, I have told you before that my brothers and I were all adopted at birth. My life, and my brothers’, could have been so different if another choice was made by our birth parents. It’s so strange to think about, but a simple yes-or-no decision gave me this amazing life and, as I have said before, everything happens for a reason. If another choice (one which I would have had no input in) were made, there are so many things I would not have had the same opportunity to do. For example, I can say with complete confidence that I would most likely have not received a college education, played collegiate basketball (playing overseas in Europe would have never been an option), been as loved and supported as I am by family, and my biological brother, Christian, would have not been given the proper medical attention he needs for his progressive vision loss disorder. More radically, I simply would not have been given life.
Life is too short to go a day unhappy. As dismal as it may sound, we aren’t guaranteed a fixed amount of days on this Earth. If you haven’t thought about this before, think about it now: today is the youngest you’ll ever be. Strange, but true! Why not do what makes you happy every day and make those around you happy as well while we can? I was told towards the end of my collegiate basketball career, “People won’t remember your stats, they’ll remember how you made them feel”, and that quote is transferable to everyday life. How you make others feel about themselves, says a lot about you.
Banksy, an English artist, once said, “They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” I hope that my name never ceases to be said and it’s because people will remember how good I made them feel.
Truly, the only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.
