It becomes easy to lose sight of the truly important things in life once you have fallen victim to a repetitive routine; if your alarm goes off at 5am every single morning without fail, eventually you forget to appreciate the brand new day that you’ve been given the chance to live through. When you spend all day and all night worrying about the future you must build for yourself, you lose sight of the importance of the present. You build up the pressure and the stress of life to the point where the words “I can’t do this anymore” enter your mind on a daily basis. It’s not until a life-changing event occurs-- when someone your age loses their life due to something as preventable as a car accident-- that you open your eyes to the true blessing that each day of life is.

It is not until you are reminded of the mortality of others that you take your own into consideration; all of the things that you are responsible for and all the responsibilities you have on your shoulders sometimes make it difficult to look past the present hardship, but when you are reminded of the rarity of each new day, you begin to put things into perspective. You realize that the problems that are always spinning around in your mind are things that will not matter a few months from now, and that the hard times you are facing will not last forever. It is not until you are reminded of the importance of life that you begin taking care of your health, maintaining positive relationships with the people around you, and adopting a positive mindset.

The struggle to acquire the perfect body image, the desire to rise above the ashes and take the world by storm, or even the fear of the future are all enough to make life seem more like a chore than anything else. Especially in a society where every stage of your life is planned

-- graduating college at 22, getting married by 27, having kids, retiring by 65-- it is hard to take life one day at a time and embrace the small things that we are lucky enough to experience. If anxiety, fear, and nervousness are all emotions that we are forced to endure, then happiness, gratitude, and hope are also emotions that you are capable of experiencing, as well. You just have to remind yourself sometimes, that’s all. So today, take a minute to think: If you were to die today, would you be happy with the life you have lived so far? If not, make the changes necessary to prevent this feeling from plaguing you again tomorrow. It’s never too late to change your life.