THE GRATITUDE OF LIFE AND BEING ALIVE

The Realization

(**This article was written about 6 months ago hence the timeline in the first sentence.**)

This is not a new realization for me, but the time I decided to write it down. Sitting here this morning in my cozy little nook, squeezed snugly between the boxes from when we were going to move 6 months ago and our lovely Christmas tree, I am struck with complete and utter awe at how absolutely ridiculously blessed I am just to be alive.  I am stopped in my tracks with the gratitude of life and being alive.

Just to be here. 

 

The Blessing Of Life

How blessed are we to all be alive? It truly is an awe-inspiring thing when you take a moment to think about all the different possibilities and circumstances that could have led to you not being here. It is an utter dumbfoundedness of gratitude I find myself flung into. Can you go there with me?

This isn’t about whether things are good or bad in your life or anything like that. 

Just. Simply. Being. Alive.

Even taking all the complications that can happen during any pregnancy out of the equation, not that we can really do that, but pretend we can for just a moment.

I can’t help but think of others once I realize my own thankfulness.

I’m thinking of my grandfather on my Mom’s side.

My grandfather fought bravely in World War II and was injured and even received a Purple Heart. It wasn’t something he spoke of and there was definitely trauma there I could tell even as a child, 

BUT here comes the awe-inspiring part.

My grandparents didn’t have their children (my mom and my uncle) until AFTER my grandfather returned home from the war.

Did you get that?

What if the bullet that hit him had landed somewhere else on his body? Well, he wouldn’t have made it home, and they never would have had my mom, hence I wouldn’t be here.

This isn’t a rabbit hole of worry or paranoia I am leading towards…it’s an unbelievable rabbit hole of the gratitude of life and being alive.

This leads me to think of others who maybe never even knew their parents. 

But that child got to be born!

It also leads me to think of those who died too young (according to the world’s timeline that is), or who grew up not ever knowing their parents, or those that are homeless on the streets.

Here is the deal though.  Whether or not we ever see it, each and every single person that has ever lived, is living, or will ever live serves a very specific purpose.  They are all needed, whether they “feel” it or not.  They are all a part of this beautiful symphony we call life!  It is incredible really to think of all the different types of people all over the world and how each one can crazy impact another.  

We are all beautiful threads being interwoven to become an unbelievably gorgeous tapestry that won’t make sense or be seen until it is all finished, woven, and tied off.  Some threads are shorter than others, some are brighter than others, some are rough and some are smooth.  There is not ONE that stands out as better or more needed though…each one is a beautiful, necessary part of the tapestry.  When pieced together, the beauty of each one enhances the others to make it an unforgettable display.

The Anatomy Of Life

It’s even incredible when you get down to the anatomy of actual life itself.  How MIND BLOWING is the science of what has to happen for you to be conceived, grow, be born, keep living and growing.  

DId you know that there are little tiny alveoli in your lungs and their job is to exchange the oxygen coming in your body with the carbon dioxide leaving our body?  In fact, there are hundreds of millions of alveoli in our lungs and they play a big role in helping us breathe those 20,000 breaths we breathe every day, most of us, without thinking about it.  

There are so many things that can go wrong even at the lung level…so many serious, painful, debilitating issues like cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, sinus congestion, bronchitis, asthma, a cold and so much more.  Even something traumatic can happen, like with my mom, where she stopped breathing instantly when the car wreck happened because her injury was at the C1 level, and our C3 is responsible for breathing.  

Those of us that are in a natural healthy state have the spoiled privilege of breathing without thinking about it.  I know others with these horrible lung issues and believe me they think about every breath.  My mom definitely was hyper-aware of her every breath after the wreck.  

This should make the gratitude of being alive even more awe-inspiring.  I know for myself and many of Mom’s caregivers, we saw the beauty in all her equipment so necessary for her life and the new plethora of instruments that became a part of her symphony for her life after the wreck.  

Just because someone’s life looks different, doesn’t make it less special.  In fact, maybe, although you can’t see it, it is perhaps even a tinge more so?  

Could it be that when pain and suffering and hardships come your way it is only then that the beauty of getting to live through those and treasure the simplest of things trumps going through life taking those things for granted?   

I know for myself as I would clean my mom’s trach area every day, I thought about her breathing and how without that she wouldn’t be here at all and I found myself flung into gratitude for God giving man wisdom to create the portable ventilators and how to perform tracheotomies and for skilled hands willing to perform such operations.  

I found myself looking at her and seeing her more beautiful than she had ever been before.  There was such beauty in her submission to her God in her circumstances.  There was a beauty in her resting fully in God’s hands simply because she had nothing else.  She treasured life.  That doesn’t mean it was easy or fun by any means. But she knew, as did I, in those dark moments, just the absolute weight of the joy and gratitude of life and being alive.

When nearly everything has been stripped from you, but for some reason, you are still here, still breathing, still thinking, still alive….the gratitude of life and being alive can simply and nearly overtake you.  

In those moments, you begin to realize, well, I am still here, so there must be something more for me to do.  He chooses to let me live another day.  He is orchestrating all the alveoli in my lungs, the pumping of my ventricles in my heart.  The Lord is in control of it all

The Unknown Of Life

Isn’t life a truly amazing wondrous gift? It doesn’t last forever and that’s what makes it so special!

Think about that for a moment….what if someone gave you the best thing in the world…what would that be for you?  The trip of a lifetime traveling around the world?  A private island in Tahiti?  That new car you have been thinking about?  A huge ranch with 15 acres and tons of animals?  I mean dream big….really big….and name it.

Now, what if they said..OK..its YOURS!  Free and clear, no payments needed, it’s all yours and only yours period end of the story.

Would you be in shock?  Most likely so, right?  But, what if there is a catch?  What if the catch is the gift giver had to tell you I don’t know how long it will last.  Please use it, please treasure it, please share it with others, please know that I gave this to you because I truly love you and wanted you to have it.  Wake up every day and be thankful for it and do the best you can with it and know that you are worth it to me.

Well, that is a little bit like God’s gift of life to us.  We are given this ONE LIFE.  We aren’t told how long it will last.  One thing we do know is that it won’t last forever.  We are told we can do anything with it we want. 

It’s guaranteed we will make mistakes with it, mistreat it, take it for granted, and not see its beauty each day.  We may end up like a child the day after Christmas with his shiny new toy…no longer holds the fascination it did that moment he opened it, or the first day playing with it.  But we can also honor it, stare at its beauty, try to take it all in, be overcome with the giver and how and why He should love us this much to give us a gift such as this! Then, be awestruck with the gratitude of life and being alive!

We get too stuffy in our adult years.  We forget the joy and playfulness and thankfulness we should hold for our shiny amazing gift called LIFE!

I have been told that I am too happy and should be more solemn, but here is the deal people.  I would rather be radiant with joy and help and encourage others along the way than be solemn and filled with sadness to appease others that are trapped in negativity.  

There is so much joy to be had and I want it like I want water.  There is also plenty of heaviness and sadness, and while I have had plenty of that as well, I choose to sit and dwell in the JOY that is life for as long as I am able.  It’s a constant battle and I have to CHOOSE it every day, but everyday it is so worth it.

One day I will be gone and maybe this article will remain somewhere, maybe it won’t.  But, if I could share with the whole world this message it would be worth it.  

I am so blessed beyond measure that God should allow me to be born and have a life! 

If He decides you should be alive right now, how can we not find gratitude in that?  For this moment, for this point in time, I get to live, breathe, have thoughts, have opinions, learn about the world around me, serve others, play hard, and love well and deeply.

Let the gratitude of Life and Being Alive hit you in the heart, soul, and mind and reverberate throughout your entire day and being!

I am so thankful you were born, and are alive and present right now.  Please know that you were designed for a reason and a purpose and God doesn’t make mistakes (it’s actually the one thing He can’t do!). 

Today, think about it as you go throughout your day, just how incredible this once in a lifetime, never know how long it lasts gift of life truly is!

Comment below and share with us your gratitude of LIFE itself.  Click Here to Snag your massive FREE set of Custom inspirational Printables to remind you of the beautiful gift of LIFE!