Waking up today, July 7, 2014, means it has now been 15 years to the day since my big brother passed on to a better and peaceful life. He spent 24 years here on earth, spreading love and kindness while traveling far and wide living his life to the fullest, the way it is meant to be lived. He was a special piece of my journey for 10 years. Yes, I was young. You may not think it would be possible for a 10 year old to comprehend something as deep as death. However, that isn’t true. I was 10 years old when my heart truly broke for the first time. I was a child when I was forced to learn what it meant to have to put my heart back together again. I’m 25 now, a year older than my brother lived to be, and here are some things I’ve learned over these past 15 years about life.
1.
For one, never underestimate a child. They’ll
always be smarter than you give them credit for. They see the world through
pure, untainted eyes.
2. Time
will never be a means of measurement; it is a tool of transportation. It is a
river carrying us through life, sometimes catching the current and flowing
faster than we would like. We can’t hold it; it’ll just slip through our
fingers. We cannot fight it, but rather let it take us to where we are meant to
be.
3. Make
health a priority. It is the basis of so many things from self-love to living a
happy life.
4.
Three words that can never be overused are I,
love, and you. Put together, they can become the most important phrase you’ll
say all day.
5.
There is something so reassuring about a hug.
Has your mood ever been immediately lifted as the result of a simple touch; a
kiss on the forehead; a handshake; a comforting touch on the shoulder? They are ways we subconsciously spread our
light to one another. So hug your loved ones and never take a single touch for
granted.
6.
You can never go wrong when being kind. Plato once
said, “Always be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.” I personally
have never thought once to myself: “I wish I was meaner today.”
7.
Begin each day with a grateful thought. No
matter how much coffee you need, how late you slept in, or how much you wish
the sun wouldn’t creep in between the crack in your curtain, hitting you square
in the eyes. Gratitude is one of the foundations of living a happy and healthy
life.
8.
Never end your day angry. Feeling anger every
now and then is a part of being human. We’re emotional, sometimes
over-emotional. Rage helps us learn and gives us a deeper appreciation for
calmness. Nevertheless, rid the mind of anger before you fall asleep. Use your own
breath to drown it away.
9.
Your attitude can either disrupt or uplift your
quality of life. Positivity is key. The best part is that it’s one of the
things in life that is in your control.
10.
Live fearlessly. My brother had EPP. He and I
both, along with two of our other siblings share an extremely high sensitivity
towards sunlight. However, he traveled from Mexico to Arizona to Texas and always
told me to never let the disease take over my life. He lived without fear. It
has been said that fear is an illusion. To live fearlessly is to break free
from that illusion. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” - Neale
Donald Walsch
11. There
are two different kind of selfishness. There’s the kind that revolves around
you and the kind that revolves within you. Live with the latter. Your life is
ultimately your own and in order to live it to the fullest, you have to live
the life you want.
12. Belief
systems work. Having faith in something is more than just a god-given right. It
plants the seeds of hope in someone. If you don’t understand the importance of
hope, and are unwilling to try, then let it be. Never stomp on someone else's hope.
It may be all they have.
13. Make
a list of things in your life that cannot be replaced. I guarantee you there
won’t be many “things” on it at all. There will be people, maybe some special
places, and memories, countless memories. The world today revolves around
materials. Valuables are mistaken for anything with a price tag on it. When in
reality, everything that is truly valuable in life is actually free. Devote
your river of time to floating alongside the treasures in your life that cannot
be replaced.
14. Your
family is more than just important. They are more than just your life’s
backbone. They are the breath you return to when you’re in need of anything as
simple as a hug, a laugh, a cry, or something as imperative as a reminder of
whom you are, your roots. And this doesn’t just apply to the family who share
the same blood as you, but to those your heart clings on to; the people who
keep it beating. When I was 10, that beating was disrupted. It slowed to almost
a complete stop when one of those people was taken away from me, or so I
thought. When my heart finally began to pick up pace again, I realized he was
never taken away, because I still loved him. He was still there, guiding me, from a place where he no longer felt any kind of sorrow or pain. Spirits are
free; free of hate, free of suffering. But love is an element of freedom. Love is what keeps us all bound together, even
when we move on.
15. Love,
Love, Love. We are here to overflow this world with love. Never be afraid to
love so deeply it hurts. Love to the point of no return. In the end it will
always be worth it. Love the dancing trees in the summer; their stillness in
the winter. Love the way a wave crashes onto the shore and gently flows over
your toes. Love the way your children jump into bed with you at the crack of
dawn, ready to play. Love the way his or her hand fits in yours, safe and secure.
Bind your life in love. It’s the only kind of bind that can set you free.
