Each Day is a Gift and Not a Given Right

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

I’d like to think I am, in general, a very appreciative and grateful individual. But I am far from perfect, we all slip up at times, and it is crucially important that we never take simply being alive for granted. It’s easy to do that though, to take the gift of life for granted. After many days and months and years of having the gift of life, we might start to forget that it is a gift and that any day, this gift can be taken from us. The gift of life becomes routine to us, expected. We don’t anticipate it, we overlook it. We look at our being alive as if it is a hard and solid fact, something that cannot be changed or taken away at a moments notice. We get so caught up in what we have to do that day, what is going on in our personal lives/relationships, and our worries for the day, that we totally forget to stop and go, “Wow. I woke up today. I can walk. I can breathe. I’m not in a hospital bed. I can make decisions, nurture relationships, make a difference, and change somebody’s life. I AM ALIVE.”

I have made a promise to myself, that each and everyday that I wake up, I will take a moment to marvel at the very fact that I am alive, and at all the wonderful things I can do because of this fact. It is a simple enough exercise, I think, and it is good to just spend a moment in true and complete wonder and appreciation for what you have.

It’s funny (in a not so comical and a more scary way) that I started this post and had all the ideas for what I would write in it on the afternoon of July 4th. I got distracted though, needed to help my mom get things ready for our little family/friend 4th of July get together, so I put down my phone and resolved to finish it later that night after I went back to my apartment in Tempe to watch fireworks with my friends. So this post just sat there, waiting for me. I woke up that day (the 4th) full of appreciation for life, and knew I should write a post about it. Maybe it was a premonition, maybe just complete coincidence, but here I am, on Sunday July 8th, finishing that post, because something entirely unexpected happened that night on the 4th of July.

After our little celebration at my moms house, I got in my car and headed back to Tempe to meet up with some friends to watch fireworks. I was on the highways, literally 3 minutes away from my destination, when I was hit at 70 mph on the highway. Everything that happened after that was a complete blur and somehow I managed to be completely, and eerily calm while handling my now 3 wheeled car, blinded by smoke, and trying desperately to stop my car, but my brakes had stopped working. Witnesses said they don’t know how I did it. How I managed to drive this mangled three wheeled car, how I managed to do it so safely, how I finally got it to stop, and most importantly, how I was still alive, and more than that, how I walked away from my totaled car only badly banged up and shaken up.

The whole thing is still surreal to me. I know who got me through it, who guided me, and it has a lot to do with the little boy behind the bracelets I wear each and everyday, the bracelets which were the last thing I saw, hands on the steering wheel, before I was hit. I knew I was going to be involved in something bad, but I only got that overwhelming feeling of dread just seconds before I was hit, no time to react or figure out what the bad thing that I was sure was going to happen to me, would be. But as I stood on the side of the highway that night, finally overwhelmed with emotions and shock and fear, I realized just how lucky and grateful I am to be alive. I don’t think the post I started earlier that afternoon was a mistake or a coincidence. Nor do I think how I got out of that accident alive was just sheer luck.

But of one thing I am absolutely certain, I am alive. I am breathing. I can walk and talk and love and make a difference, and I will take advantage of this gift I have been given, I will never pass up an opportunity to do the right thing and experience life to the fullest. I will live in this moment and I will appreciate today, because today is all we are promised. After all, each day is a gift and not a given right.

Sunday Hiking at 5:30 a.m.

I am not a morning person, nights are my specialty.  It’s not that I’m grumpy in the morning or breathe fire at anybody who walks in my direction before I’ve had my first cup of coffee (I’m pretty much happy all the time, sleepy or otherwise), but rather because I legitimately am a night owl and also tango with insomnia every damn night of my life-so, I usually don’t fall asleep until 3 a.m. and waking up at 5:30 a.m. to go hiking today was very hard but worth it.  It has been in the 100-108 degree range this entire last week, and I never woke up early enough to avoid the unbearable heat, a heat that has already killed a few Arizona hikers in the past week or so.  There has been heat advisories everyday (typical) and when you wake up at 11:00 a.m. or later (thank you, summer break!) you end up missing the only coolish/safe/logical time to hike!

Today was my first hike since last Sunday, but for some reason when I woke up my legs were screaming with soreness.  Even the first few steps on the mountain today were brutal, and it was a LONG uphill hike for me today.  But I do not back down from hiking, and I got my ass up that mountain eventually.  Off all the days I can decide whether or not to go hiking, Sunday is non-negotiable.  Hiking on Sunday is like my church.  Sometimes it feels as if hiking is my religion and the mountains are my church.  So, I hike every Sunday, religiously.

Today as I hiked, Maya Thompson and RoBaby were on my mind and heart.  MamaMaya is running (as we speak) in the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon.  She is calling it, “Maya’s Marathon of Madness: If Kids Can Fight Cancer, I Can Run a Marathon Without Training for It!” and she is doing just that!  I am so grateful that I have gotten to meet this incredible woman, but I wish it were not under these circumstances.  Today, she runs for her son Ronan who lost his life to cancer.  She also runs for each and every child that lost their life to cancer as well as the children fighting it right now and the children in remission.  During her “Marathon Training” she helped raise enough money to fund an incredible and cutting-edge Neuroblastoma study led by Dr. Yael Mosse at CHOP.  This study is going to blaze new trails and save these babies’ lives.  The things Maya is doing, well, there are really no words for it.  She has the passion, drive, dedication, and spirit to make real change, and I am absolutely positive she will.  Because Ronan should still be here, but Maya is continuing this fight for him, for all the kids affected by cancer, kids like my own little brother.

Here’s a beautiful picture from my Sunday Hike today.  My legs are completely fried right now, but the burn in my legs and the ache in my muscles reminds me that I am alive.  I am healthy.  I have wonderful family and friends.  My heart continues to beat.  I have the freedom to go hiking, unlike the many children and adults in this world that are confined to a hospital bed because they are sick with a disease that should have a cure by now.  Each day that I wake up, with the ability to walk, talk, breathe, climb, and love-well that is a blessing-and I count my blessings everyday.  Happy Sunday everybody, I hope you all have a fabulous week!