Opinion

You only have one life to live

LiAundra Grace
Guest Columnist

I must have watched ER a hundred times. Anyone who watches the show has seen many people lose their lives and many families lose the ones they love. I found it to be quite strange that it wasnit until Wednesday morning that I realized what Iive known about death but never accepted. Death is inevitable. Everyone has to die and no one knows when.

You would think that after the devastating events of Sept. 11, 2001 I would have more of an appreciation for life. Well, I didnit. It was the death of my uncle that knocked me down and sent a shock wave through my body. Although I was caught off-guard by his death, I still did not realize how important life is. I wondered what was the point in happiness when it could all be taken away within the blink of an eye. I had a hard time understanding why people worked so hard when they would eventually have to leave everything behind.

There I was, lying on my bed watching a re-run of ER On this particular episode an elderly man lost his wife and a young girl lost her father. For some reason I began imagining what it would feel to lose someone with whom I have grown old. I then began to think about how I am not ready to go. At this time it hit me. 

All I could think was, "I could be gone at any moment. Thereis so much I want to accomplish, so much I want to be."

I could no longer continue living believing that I had nothing to live for. When you think about it, thatis not living. Anything that is left behind after death always has a home. If you live a pretty wealthy life, then your wealth is left to those closest to you whom you loved the most. If you leave behind a positive image, then the image is carried by those who looked up to you.

Now I know that I have to live life to its fullest. I must try to achieve as much as I can each day for all that I want to accomplish in my lifetime. All that I want to be, I donit have to wait to be.

Remember that there are many roadblocks and stormy days, but we have to stop fighting against our hardships and run with them. We must remember to never stop living before it is our time and to treat every second of life as if we may not live in the next.

We all want to be successful in every aspect of life, from our professional life to our love life. In order to achieve this; realize that giving up is not an option. Once you quit, you fail. Once you fail, you lose. No one wants to be a loser. You must use the time you are allotted here on Earth to accomplish all that you can.

Grace, a junior communication major, can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu.