24 and Thankful

“Do not regret growing older.  It is a privilege denied to many.”

Today I woke up a little happier, a little peppier, and a little more thankful for waking up than I do on a normal day.  And today isn’t a normal day- today at approximately 6:32 p.m., I turned 24.  But I want to illustrate that I’m not only happier/peppier/thankful because it’s my birthday, but because these past few weeks while gearing up for a medical malpractice trial, it has really put my life in perspective.

As a legal assistant/paralegal to medical malpractice lawyers, your main job is to summarize medical records and learning to balance that with your other duties such as scheduling, sending legal documents to courts, etc.  And these past few weeks, after summarizing medical records that pertained to the trial that I’ve been at for most of this week (yes, including today) really got me thinking.  There are so many people out there in the world, wishing for one more day, one more ice cream cone, one more dance, one more birthday, one more kiss, and here I am getting upset over mundane things that I won’t even remember in a year’s time.

My life is not perfect by any means: I’m not in the career field that I had dreamed of since I was 7 years old, I’m living paycheck to paycheck, and I tend to rack up medical bills for stomach issues that doctors can’t seem to figure out.  But despite these few negatives going on in my life, I have so many more positives to be thankful for.  For instance, as of today, I have spent 24 years on this Earth.  I have an incredibly loving and hilarious fiancé who I can’t wait to marry in June and who I’m lucky enough to wake up to each and every day.  We pay our bills on time and can afford a decent apartment.  I have so many wonderful friends and family members in my life, and so many of those people reached out to me today to let me know they were thinking of me.  I have parents who would bend over backwards for me and always talk me up when I’m feeling down.  And these are only a few of the great things happening in my life right now.

And as a 24 year old, I’m still trying to figure life out.  But that’s okay.  You’re not supposed to have life figured out while you’re in your twenties.  And even though I know that life will have its ups and downs, right now I should always focus on those positives I listed above.  Because there are so many individuals in this world who are struggling with finding a job, who are in terrible relationships, and who have parents who never put their children first (no matter the age).  And there are those who may not live another day, whose last breath may be today, due to diseases that still haven’t been cured.  I ache for those people, their friends and most importantly their families.  Today, I am thankful because, besides my irritating stomach issues, I’m a healthy 24 year old with a wonderful family, a loving fiancé, and a life that actually isn’t as bad as I make it out to be sometimes.  And I pray every day that I continue to grow old, because some other individuals aren’t so lucky.

So for this next year I spend on this Earth, I hope that my positivity continues to improve, I stop getting mad at the little things, and that I live life to the fullest instead of wishing my days away.

“Today is the oldest you’ve ever been and the youngest you’ll ever be again.”

 

Monday Lit Circle: Heaven Has No Regrets

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great Monday, despite it being a Monday.  Anyway, today is lit circle day!  So now I’m going to talk about a book I actually just finished reading late last week which is the inspiration to my reconnection with writing/blogging.  The book is called Heaven Has No Regrets and it’s written by the amazing Tessa Shaffer!

It isn’t a well known novel…yet. Once she gets more publicity, I have no doubt in my mind that people across the country will be reading it.  It tells the coinciding stories of two best friends and cousins who are both battling diseases.  It’s a story about love, living life to its fullest and having no regrets.  It definitely has some religious aspects to it due to Tessa’s religious background.  The book is based on a heartbreaking but magnificent true story, one that I feel many people can relate to in some way.  If this sounds like something you would like to read (you definitely should!!), check out the website for the book, the amazon link where you can buy it and the book’s facebook, twitter, and instagram so you can stay up to date with Tessa and her book!

In case you can’t tell from what I said above, I actually know Tessa personally.  Even still, I stay true to my word about always being honest on what I actually think about a book.  Heaven Has No Regrets was incredibly hard to read because of some of the content (if you read it you’ll know what I mean).  But that doesn’t make it a terrible book; that just makes it much more honest.  Life isn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t for the characters Makenzie and Faith.  Not only could I relate to the characters in one way or another but I could basically feel their pain pouring through the open pages.  It discussed real issues that many people are affected by all around the world.

It was one of those books that you don’t know what to do with yourself once you’ve finished reading it.  I figured out what I should do after reading the acknowledgements, and that was to start writing.

In the acknowledgements at the ending, Tessa lists many people she knows personally who helped her not only write her book but also those who helped her get through one of the roughest parts of her life.  But in those acknowledgements she also says to “just write” no matter what it’s about or who it’s for or however long it is.  And that is exactly why I’m sitting in front of my computer right now at 10:22 PM on a Monday evening writing this.  I already told her personally, but thank you again, Tessa, (I know you’ll eventually read this…once I give you the link to my blog :P) for inspiring me to start writing again, since it’s the thing I love doing the most in this world.  And thank you again for sharing your story.  Your courage inspires me, and I hope to one day be as courageous as you.

Anyway, any of the few people out there who happen to somehow come across this and take the time to read it and are also bookworms, please go check out all of Tessa’s social media and please consider buying her book!

Until tomorrow!