Count your Blessings...

Original Entry Date:
April 25, 1999
Age: 15

Dear Diary,
Once again it has been an awfully long time since I've written you.  Well I have to say I'm pretty happy now.  I went to Florida, that was fun.  Well then I came back and it was prom time.  Of course I'm a sophomore though and I shouldn't quite expect to go but as luck would have it, Aaron Dunne has asked me and I'm going.  Morgan and Erin are going as well and it should be quite a lot of fun.  I'm excited!  And Matt Ryan, this hot senior is going in our group too so YES!!! Well, I know often times I write and I complain but I don't have anything to complain about this time around.  Things are going well.  Morgan and Kim have become two very good friends and Terri and I hang out sometimes too.  And going out with the juniors is a lot of fun.  Well, I'm turning 16 in 10 days and of course I'll keep writing to you.  Til Then,
Megs

Dear Megs,
It is funny how often we take so much time to complain about events in our lives that we fail to notice how truly blessed we truly are in comparison to so many out there.  At this time of your life, you were happy for 3 reasons: You had just gotten back from a wonderful vacation in Florida with your family, you got invited to prom by an older boy, and you seemed to have everything going well with the friends in your life.  However, there were so many other wonderful things that you had going on in your life that you often failed to notice and even took for granted.  It is easy to caught up in the day to day drama that we don't notice the truly important gifts we are given in our lives that are truly so important.
You have always been quite blessed with your life and even now it is too easy to take some of these gifts for granted.  I believe this is because the constants, the people and items you have always had stop being seen as things that you are truly blessed to have. 

You have very loving parents who are the perfect picture of two people in love.  They have worked hard to give you and your siblings a fantastic life.  You've always had a roof over your head, food in your mouth, clothes on your back.  Your parents have always wanted nothing but the best for you whether it is through friends, love, opportunity; they have always pushed you to be the best you can be.  They have done nothing but supported you in everything you tried to do, showed up to t-ball games, plays, basketball games, swim meets, diving meets, track meets, cross country meets--the list could go on and on.  They have taken you on some fantastic trips: going down to Florida every spring, New Jersey every summer and quite a few other fun trips as well along the way! At the time, they taught you the importance to work for what you wanted and you held jobs in High School and College to buy the things you wanted.  When you had a very scary accident at age 18, they were there in the hospital scared out of their minds just praying everything would be all right and doing everything they could to be strong for you.  This never seemed like much to you because you always had it and thus it became the norm and you spent too much time complaining: they expect too much, they never let me do anything, etc.  However, there are many people across the world who have never seen these blessings.  This day and age especially, lots of kids grow up with parents who are no longer together.  Others have parents who are sick or tragically lost one or both of their  parents early.  Others have been hit with hard times and they have had to help support their families.  No matter how frustrated or angry you can be with your parents for certain things as a teenager, it is so important to realize the good if you have it.  There are so many people out there in this world who deal with such larger difficulties than whether the boy you life likes you back.  I don't want to trivialize the things that are important to you but I also want to point out  that others face so much more  every day and never complain about their situation.  So don't judge others as you never know what difficulties they are facing or what they have overcome! 

Your health and the health of your family and friends is another blessing I feel we often taken for granted.  I am one of five kids and somehow we have all made it 3 decades with hardly a health scare.(knock on wood)  I read last month about a family who's newborn baby was born with cancer.  Born with cancer, how does this happen?  A friend's sister lost their daughter at 6 months old.  These children were born fighting for their lives but somehow so many of us live every day as though we earned it.  Every day in your life is a gift, every day you are healthy is a gift, it is amazing and shocking how quickly something can happen and everything is different.  Never take your life or your health for granted.  It reminds me of a quote from the graduation speech "wear sunscreen". "The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday".  A car accident, a heart attack, a random lump, a freak accident , a fire and everything you knew and took for granted in your life has changed.  I hate to be morbid but in just 30 years of life, I've seen it: a friend's Mom, a coworker, a Dad of a family friend, another coworker, classmates....etc.  I can not repeat enough, every day in your life is a gift, every breath you take means something and should not be taken for granted.  Live every day like it is your last, I know it is said often and may sound cliche, I even admit I don't always do this, but do live every day to the fullest, hug the ones you love, life is tricky and tough breaks happen.  And if anyone you know is going through something tough, be there for them.  And don't be so quick to judge others as you do not know what they are dealing with. 

I had a bit of a wake up call when i was 18.  I've alluded to this in a few entries before but this seems like a good entry to elaborate.  A freak accident caused me to fracture several vertebrae in my upper spinal cord/ neck area.  I was in intensive care for 3 days and had to undergo emergency surgery to remove broken bone fragments and fuse my cord together. I am extremely lucky and I unfortunately can forget this at times.  I made a full recovery and even ran the marathon to raise money for spinal cord injury research about 2 and a half years ago, but again I find myself forgetting this very monumental moment in my life more than I should.  I look back and realize how close everything was to being very different.  I was told if the injury was a little higher, I likely would have been paralyzed for life.  No dancing, running, walking ever again.  A completely different life.  The fact that I made a 100% recovery truly was such a gift that looking back I can't help but be incredibly grateful for. 

So dance like no one is watching, laugh often, love fully, and live every day like it is your last.  You truly are blessed whether you believe it or not.  It is too easy to get caught up in the day to day frustrations we have in life that we forget the biggest gift of them all is in fact our lives.  Don't get me wrong, it is easy to complain when things aren't going our way, money is short, people are rude, our hearts are broken but let those moments pass quickly.  I will tell you this that I've learned from my accident at age 18: I do not take my life as seriously anymore.  This may sound like a bad thing but let me explain.  As Ferris Bueller said it best: "Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive!"  I don't get upset or angry with people in my life for little things. I don't sweat the small stuff, if someone doesn't like me, so be it!  I let certain things roll off my back.  Oh the waitress forgot I said dressing on the side, is it really that big of a deal?  My boyfriend forgot to pick me up that milk that I asked for, where does that rank in the big picture of life?  I don't take the little things seriously.  There is no reason to.  Life is a gift to be enjoyed.  Your presence in others lives should make them happy, not frustrated.  Be a joy to be around and take joy in all you do.  So please, count your blessings, and love the life you've got, its the only one you have!