Caught Up In Life

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I could write a book on how many things I have to be thankful for and I thank God every night for everything I've been blessed with in life but yesterday as I was sitting there, listening to some music I began to think about my life and where I'm going in life. The moment that changed my life was not the car accident I was in or being told I'd never walk again, the moment that changed everything for me was when I woke up two days after the accident and the doctor walked in and told me something that changed everything, he told me that I should have been killed. Its hard to explain how I felt in that moment but it was like the world stopped, it was as if life would never again be measured by a grade on a paper or by the score of a Sunday football game. For me that was the moment that changed how I looked at everything in life. It may sound cliche but when I drive down to the most secluded spot I can find and I watch the sunset fall over the bay, it is the most powerful feeling ever. When I get to hug my niece and hear about what she did in school that week I'm not just listening, I'm appreciating that moment I get to spend with her.

We get so caught up in just trying to get through the things we think are trivial in life that we lose the perspective on what it means to live. I am thankful everyday that I get to be stressed out about a paper that's due or if I am sitting in traffic I'm not angry or frustrated because those are the things that I am so thankful I get to do. I don't want to come off as saying I'm somehow perfect or that I don't ever get frustrated or angry because I do, I'm human, what I try to remember is that life is more than the milestones in life, it's about how we get there.

I lay in bed every morning wondering what opportunities I will have that day or what challenges I will get to face and everyday I repeat what that doctor told me four years ago because I am so thankful he didn't have to tell my parents that night that I was killed.

Life for me is going to be defined by things that may appear trivial to some but will mean the world to me. I can't wait for the chance to kiss my wife and kids goodbye every morning or to call my fiance just to say hi. I can't wait play catch with my son and play house with my daughter. What I want out of life is not money or fame but is the things that people should value most but get too caught up in life to remember.

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving and will have a great Holiday season and please try and take some time to treasure all the things in life that truly matter before you never get the chance to.

God Bless