Dont just survive, be alive;

 “I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.”

            You know how every so often you have those moments in life where you decide you will never take anything you have for granted? That moment where you see someone that has not eaten in days, or a ten year old girl carrying around a baby and she is pregnant, and you say I will never take all the fortune in my life for granted again? I had that moment twice the other day when I went on the bus to meet my friends. I am sitting listening to my iPod looking how dirty and gross my shoes were thinking that I need to by some new ones because they suck and how I have freakishly large feet and hands. And then the people on the bus start parting ways. I look down the bus to see nothing, and then I see this man and his wife laughing. The man is moving himself along with his hands because he was missing both of his legs. His hands were covered in dirt ,but he looks up at all the people and says ¨I´m sorry I don’t know what I am eating, but I just am not getting any taller!¨ with the biggest grin. As the bus halts and he climbs down the bus with his hands. I thought to myself wow. Tears filled my eyes by simply how beautiful that man has to be only by seconds of seeing him. That he can make life his own, he does not choose the easy way out. Once he left I reflected on how self centered I can be in my own life. And how there are many opportunities that I do not take advantage of, just because I do not feel like it.  But, unlike this man, I have two legs. Two more reasons to do twice the things that he can´t do in life. As I am in the middle of this process a man walks on the bus with a guitar. This is quite a normal event; they arrive sing and then collect money. But, this man was different, he was missing his hand. I looked around to see if this was my mind just messing with me, but all the other passengers had the same look of, ¨how many missing body parts are we going to see today?¨ this man starts playing guitar with one arm!  Strumming with his stump and singing to the music. These moments pass as do all. And it makes me think what I can do to be better and do better and live better. I have realized that at many points in our lives we are stagnant and just surviving. We are content with our routine and though not joyful we are complacent and not sad. I think as people of opportunity and intelligence we owe ourselves more, owe the world more. Don’t just survive be alive. Chase life. Because, who knows one day you could be that person that has been though life and realized you never lived it.