Sunday, September 20, 2015

Embrace Life

Life – we all live it. The way we choose to live our lives is ultimately our choice. Some people are more fortunate than others. Some are not quite as fortunate. While some choose to live modestly, there are those that choose to live more extravagantly. However, being rich or poor monetarily isn’t what’s important. I think what truly matters is having good health, and having family and good friends that love and support you, no matter what. It’s also about the quality of life you live, being a hard worker to achieve that quality, yet to love life and enjoy it to the fullest.

On August 6th, 2015, I lost one of my seven cousin's. She was in Australia vacationing with her brother. They went to go on a scuba dive with a tourist group. They were with instructors. They were down in the water for about 8 minutes, at 20 ft below when my cousin signaled to her brother there was a problem. They quickly surfaced and had her on the boat very quickly. By that point, she had lost consciousness. There were two doctors present and they immediately began performing CPR. A team of eight people were taking turns working on her for 90 minutes. By the time the rescue personnel got there, they pronounced her dead.

My cousin lived her life to the fullest. There is no doubt about that. She touched so many lives, literally across the world and back. She worked, she traveled and she played. She had so many hobbies and things that she was in to. She saw so many places in the world that most of us only dream about.

For the last couple of years, I have been struggling with some issues in my life. For the last month and a half, I have struggled with losing her. I am the oldest of eight cousins. You never think that someone younger than you will cross over before you. So her death has really rocked my world. Her death has put many things into perspective for me.

For the last year or so, I have been on a personal journey myself. I have been reading some self-help books, I swear, at (almost) 43, I think I started going through a midlife crisis about 2 years ago. I pulled away from friends in my life and started focusing more on my family. I started trying to find myself and who I was. Then as I said, when my cousin died, life was put into perspective even more.

I have been trying more and more to not dwell on the negativity, but rather the positivity. I have been trying to be more mindful of myself and the moments I am in. I have been experimenting with some simple meditation techniques. Anything that I thought would just help release the negative energy and stresses I have been feeling so much of.

So this morning as I was sitting on my porch with an exceptionally delicious cup of coffee, I found myself breathing in the fresh air, fully and completely (probably for the first time in my life) taking in the moment. Being mindful and present and all of a sudden my cousin popped into my head....thoughts of her and her life and how she lived, never taking a single moment for granted. She embraced life. She cherished it.

As I sat there thinking about her, the idea for this blog was born. I am hoping that it will have a positive impact in my life as well as others that maybe struggling with some negativity in their lives or that just may be going through a difficult time and need some inspiration or some positive energy.

Thank you for reading. Cherish the moment and remember to embrace the positivity! 

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