This year, I had a big birthday celebration. My friends, family and I celebrated my birthday on four separate days with four separate events.  Friday night we went to a lounge; Saturday night we went to a dance club.  On Sunday afternoon, we ate brunch. And on Wednesday, my actual day of birth, we went to dinner and Apache Café.

In the past two years, so many life altering situations have occurred to those around me and it made me more appreciative of my life. A distant relatives was found dead in her kitchen a few months ago. No one knows what happened. One of my mother’s friends was diagnosed with cancer and spent the better part of last year in chemotherapy. Another family friend is experiencing severe psychological problems, and though several people are encouraging him to be evaluated, he refuses. This next one hit close to home, I had a friend who was in a potentially fatal car accident last year. He came out alive, but with a severe injury on his hand.

I could go and on about unpleasant situations that I’ve witnessed in my 26th year of life. While I was worrying about where my next job would be or how to pay my car note, I had relatives and friends who were dying or dealing with the ramifications of chemotherapy, how they were going to regain full use of their hand after a severe injury, or how to deal with who apparently has a mental disorder.

Yes, I wish things were different in my life. No, my life is not perfect. But it is the life that God has blessed me with and it is the only one that I have. I spend too much time worrying about what people think of me, worrying about my career, worrying how to pay off my loans. All of these things are not important. What’s important is that we cherish every breath, every moment that we get while we’re alive because we don’t know when it will all be over.