To those of you who seem to be growing up in a generation who is losing too many of their own, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for those of you who lost a close friend this year, no matter what the circumstances were. Whether they took their own life or someone else took it for them, I’m sorry.

No one understands why the young seem to lose their lives so soon, but growing up in a generation that has lost too many of our own, I have learned that life is a gift and any day, your life could be taken from you just as fast as it was given to you.

Watching so many young people lose their lives before they were able to even fully live it has taught me more than I could have ever imagined. I’ve learned to get up a little earlier, stay up a little later, work a little harder, and smile a little more. I have learned to stop taking the little things in life for granted because the time is now to be grateful for everything that God gives you.

Most of the people who died yesterday had plans for what they were going to do tomorrow. In the blink of an eye, everything can change. Our generation needs to learn to appreciate what they have instead of thinking that it will always be there to appreciate. For those of you who wake up each morning and think “oh, well that won’t happen to me,” you need to stop. Right now. Because I promise you that it can happen to you.

You want to drink and drive? Before you get behind the wheel, stop and think about not only your life, but those other people who are also driving at the same time you are. You are not invincible.

You want to pop an ecstasy? Before you swallow that pill, remember how terribly things could go for you. You are not invincible.

You want to jump off the bridge just because your best friend said you wouldn’t hurt yourself when you hit the bottom? Just remember, you are not invincible.

You want to do those drugs with your friends “just one time” because the internet might have said that as long as you only do it once, nothing bad can happen to you? Funny because just one time can change you. You are not invincible.

Stop. Think. Then act. Almost 100 percent of the people in our generation seem to think its OK to act before they think. We think that taking into consideration all of the terrible things that could happen isn’t “cool.” While we also think that we could never become a statistic.

Those who have lost their lives at such a young age are looking down on us hoping that we will take the time think about what we’re about to do before we actually do it. Those who are looking down on us are hoping that we will make the right choices because they never got the chance to do so.

Time is precious and life is a gift. Do not ever forget how blessed you are, because I promise one day, whether it be next week or in 30 years, God will decide what is best for you. Yesterday was a blessing, today is a gift, and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

“Love the people God gave you, because he will need them back one day.”

In loving memory of McKenna Campbell, Sam Shelton, Michael Woods, and Moorea Desroches.