A deep breath

My life has been completely hectic for honestly the past few years. I have a full time job, full time school, internship, and trying to keep up on having a social life. I can easily sit here and complain about how my life is so horrible. Yes, there are many things in my life that I consider hardships, but it really is not that bad. Two things happened over the past couple weeks that really made me stop dead in my tracks and really think about my life.

Someone from my high school took their life. This was someone I was never very close to, but still someone I had known for the past 12 years. Even though I was not close with this person, hearing this news really has upset me. How is it that someone could think that things were really that bad that they had to end it? It made me realize that everyone has their own inner demons and things happening that most will not know about. This makes me really look at people and situations a little differently. It makes me feel more compassion.

A friend that I used to be extremely close with went through a tragedy last weekend. Her 3 week old son passed away. Words cannot describe the pain that I feel for her and her family. We have not seen each other in years, but I follow her blog and she was brave enough to share her entire story with everyone. By the end of it, I felt like I knew her son personally. I read what she wrote and cried and cried. Her strength through the whole thing really humbled and amazed me. It amazed me at how strong she is and what incredible faith she has. I know that her faith brought her the comfort that she needed through that situation.

With all of this on my mind, one of my very very close friends had a horrible thing happen to her: she was physically abused by her boyfriend. She also found out that he had been lying to her the whole time. My heart breaks for her because I can't even imagine the pain that she is going through with that. I have been trying to be there for her throughout it, doing as much as I can. It just honestly makes me lose faith in men sadly. How could someone do that to a woman? It makes me feel sick even thinking about it. I hope that he rots in jail for what he has done, not only to her, but to other women as well.

After thinking about what has been going on, it has made me take in a deep breath and appreciate what I have in my life. I have experienced tragedy as well. I have survived. I have grown from what has happened to me and applied to to help my life. Sometimes I get so caught up in the trivial things in life, such as being upset with someone, or a dumb teacher, or not getting to sleep, that I forget how truly grateful I should be for being healthy and alive. I have a great family and support of my great friends. I have a full time job with benefits, I am going to school for something that I love, I have a car, I have a place to live, and I have my share of nice things.

I am thankful for all of the blessings I have in my life. I also continue to pray and hope the best for my friends who are going through these things, and hope they have the strength to continue forward.