"Life is precious, don't waste it."

Alright I know this is super cliche but please don’t let that keep you from embracing the concept within it.

I hope you can take a moment to appreciate the miracle that is happening. It all started by you winning the lottery when two cells, one from a woman and one from a man to create you. That cell then went on to exponentially multiply in the most intricate of ways to create a functioning body.

This body has more cells than galaxies in the universe and veins that have grown so long that they can wrap around the planet. This is all inside you. Then beyond that, this same process happened to every human you’ve ever encountered, who for whatever reason in space and time crossed your path in big and small ways.

We don’t recognize this miracle that is life because there’s so much hardship and suffering in it. Sometimes we don’t get what we want, things happen that are unfair, or we sad that our spark is slowly fading away. But what if we recognized this incredible opportunity that we have and made the most of it?

“Life is precious, don’t waste it.”

What does wasting life even mean? I can only speak for myself, but I see it as failing to apply yourself to the things that you care about, not allowing yourself to chase what you want and who you want to be, regretting that you didn’t make the impact that you know you’re capable of.

It’s having wings but never having the courage to fly.

But the wonderful thing about life is it takes a life-time to live it. And understand that just because you feel like you haven’t made the most of it yet does not mean that you aren’t on the path to.

Take Damon West for example.

Damon was a college athlete turned meth addict and criminal. He received a life-sentence for it and went to maximum security prison. His life was over and by all accounts it appeared as though he wasted his potential. But in prison he chose to transform his life, learn from his mistakes, commit himself to being of service to others, and by some miracle he was let our on probation after just over 7 years in prison. Now he’s speaking on stages across the world, supporting other addicts with their recovery, and making a real profound difference.

He’s taken this quote to heart and is living out his life’s purpose, which he arrived at in the most unpredictable of ways - “Life is precious, don’t waste it.”

Now what does this all mean for you? Well of course it’s what you make of it.

You can choose to see life through the lens of all the things you have to complain about, or you can choose to see that everything is available to you and you’re the creator of what happens next. Of course we all want to choose the latter, and it’s easier said than done, but knowing the miracles that have already happened around you to get where you are should give you reason to believe that many more are on the way!