Recently, my brother has broken his arm. He has broken this thumb in the past, but that was 3 years ago. Now, as a 17-year-old 6’3 teenager, this time is different. While this has significantly killed our golf vibe, the moral of my story is to stop taking life for granted.

Simple things such as putting on your shirt, pull on socks, and switching hands when you brush your teeth are all things that make only having one hand a clear struggle.

Since the break, we decided to take a float trip. As soon as we get all of the kayaks and the canoe in the water, we all notice as Adam tries to steer in his kayak. Of course, that fails and we have to have him switch so that he’s not using his arm, but again, we’ve noticed the struggles of the arm break.

Opening bottles, locking a door, driving, and even typing are all things that Adam has been struggling with because of the issue of only having one hand. I’ve been blessed to not have a broken bone. Lord knows I couldn’t handle the pain of a break but just even having Adam with a break has made me realize how much we take advantage of things, become entitled, and how easily we expect so much from others. The clothes we wear, the cars we drive, and the places that we visit for vacation all become things that we idolize. We idolize the desire for fancy things and there’s nothing wrong with that, but when we can’t stop and realize how blessed we are, we’ve failed ourselves.

To our core, we are human and we forget to be as thankful as we are blessed. Take a moment because our lives are such a blessing. Our family, our friends, and our belongings are such sweet additions to a life we are so blessed to be living and a part of. The roof over our head, the shoes under our feet, and the eyes that we have to see are such things we all should take a moment for. We should strive to humble ourselves, to appreciate our surrounding and remember to humble ourselves because we’re not promised tomorrow.