live like you're dying

While reading the "Obituaries" section in the local newspaper to add something more to my already lugubrious day, I came upon a poignant excerpt located in the lower left corner of the paper. Z.A.R. He was 16 years old. His hair skimmed his eyebrows. He played football and coached basketball. Just a month ago, he was celebrating the end of sophomore hell like any other guy roaming my school hallways. While the inside of my stomach pinched me and my index finger shook back and forth, Kris Allen's mellow yet dramatic voice played in my ear:"Liiiiive like we're dying". 

When I imagine death, I think not until I'm 80. I think of my grandparents and how they were grateful enough to live long and precious lives. Like all my friends and classmates at school, I'm at a level where life's a movie. We're working. We're falling in love. We're having fun. But at the same time, like any teenager, we're all susceptible to grudges and fights and misbehaviors and wrong decisions. We think "hey we have tomorrow to change it". But what if there's no tomorrow to fix our mistakes? With a snap of finger, someone, either you, me, or him, could walk out of this world. It's important that when we walk out, we keep our heads held high, never regretting a single thing.

-AA
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