.☘︎︎} 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 {☘︎︎.

{• Life is a Gift •}

     I believe that life is a gift. Everyone has this gift, no matter who they are, where they're from, or what they have done. As with any gift, it can be given and taken away. But once it's gone, you can't get it back. Life is valuable and most people don't realize it.

     When I was in eighth grade, I was reading a book series my dad had given me a year or two before. I loved the series and loved how the things I read about related to the world, to my life. The book was probably the sixth or seventh in the series but this one truly influenced me. In this book, the author Terry Goodkind wrote, "To exist in this vast universe for a speck of time is the great gift of life. Our tiny sliver of time is our gift of life. It is our only life. The universe will go on, indifferent to our brief existence, but while we are here we touch not just part of that vastness, but also the lives around us. Life is the gift each of us has been given. Each life is our own and no one else's. It is precious beyond all counting. It is the greatest value we can have. Cherish it for what it truly is..... Your life is yours alone. Rise up and live it." This is the quote that helped shape my beliefs to what they are today. I realized that my life is a gift. It is something that is truly mine. This quote made me realize that even though I might not do great things like what is in movies, books, and history, but I can still make a difference in the lives of people around me and hopefully make their existence a bit better if I can help. Living isn't like some worldly possession that is valuable, something that you can hold or physically touch. Life is the most valuable thing people have and most don't even realize it before it is taken away by something abrupt.

    Today, I hear about people who commit suicide every year. Every one of those people has a story and most come back to having a bad life, or bad childhood, or an abusive relationship, and then these people give up their lives to escape from the way they've been living. I wish these people knew that you can change your way of living for the better. Wherever you are in life, no matter how bad it is, it's yours, and yours to create. Don't let people who don't appreciate living, take it away from you. I know that this may sound preachy and you might think that I believe that all you need to do is wish for better things to come. But no. It's not just about belief. You have to act upon your beliefs to make them count. Don't let your gift be thrown in the trash before it has truly had time to unfold. Your life is your gift. And this is why I believe that life is a gift.

By: Mattingly Finley