"You don't know what you have until it's gone." That's a quote that we hear all of the time, but don't really give much thought to. When you lose something, are apart from something, or something is taken from you, you learn to never take for granted the blessings in your life. Hopefully, you learn this before it is too late.

Going off to college has really shown me that we often take for granted what we have, and we don't realize it until we don't have them every day. Being away from home, means being away from everything and everyone that we know and love. These were the people and things that were just always there, so we never truly realized their importance. It's not until you eat the same food every day, wear flip flops in the shower, or sit alone in your dorm room, that you realize the many things that you miss that you didn't even realize. When we go home and get everything back, we realize that it is often the little things that went unnoticed that we are so lucky to have: just sitting in the kitchen talking about gossip with your mom, belting out songs in the car with your siblings, home cooked meals, not having to share a sink or a shower (or much of anything) with anyone, making memories with your teammates, or just lying on your couch in your house surrounded by the people in your hometown who you love and who love you. These are all little things that we never realized were so important, until we no longer had them, at least for periods of time while we were away.

So appreciate everything, and everyone, you are blessed to have in your life -- whether you believe it is important or not. Next time you complain about how bored you are in your house, or how much you hate your siblings or your mom's cooking, stop and think about how one day you might not have these things anymore, and maybe then you'll realize that we never really know what we have until it's gone.