By Dawn Onley

The older I get I become more aware of the unpredictability of life.

It’s something I use to take for granted when I was young. Growing up with the love and security of my mom and dad, who made me feel like I could be anything I wanted to be, I’ll admit I felt somewhat invincible, like my folks and friends would always be around. Heck, like I’d always be around.

And then life happens.

An illness pops up out of nowhere and leaves us grappling with the aftermath, dazed and scared and unsure of the future. A miscarriage can break us to the core, shattering a particular dream of motherhood. A betrayal of a lover or a close friend can leave us feeling like the world is caving in.

This I know for sure: no matter how much control you think you have, no matter the plans that you’ve made, the dreams that you’ve dreamed, life can (and does) throw us all curveballs that we never see coming. Life causes us to adjust. To start again. To reenvision and to recreate.

One day, you experience the pain of losing someone you love and it opens your eyes to just how fragile and random life is. Suddenly, the things that you stressed over before, don’t matter as much in the grand scheme of things. In an instance, we begin to understand that time is our greatest asset, yet it’s not reliable or infinite. We never know how much of it we have left so we should make the most of every moment.  

It’s best to appreciate the here and now, right here, right now. Live fully.  

None of us know what the future holds. We’re all just riding along for the journey until we reach an unknown destination. We might as well enjoy the trip, as best we can.