I take things for granted every single day. Every one of you takes things for granted every single day. No matter how hard we try to appreciate the little things, we always reach a point of comfort in which we regress to our old selves. It takes little to no time to go from "Thank God I have food to eat" to "Geez, I hate doing the dishes after dinner". This latter statement seems small, but it is full of completely overlooked blessings - You're alive, you had food to cook, you had dishes on which to eat, you had a house in which to prepare your meal, you had the health to physically be able to do dishes, you had clean running water to wash them with, you most likely even have a dishwasher to do 90% of the work for you, and the list goes on.

Well, today I was served two reminders of precisely how lucky I am. The first reminder came this morning at the expense of someone I don't even know. I found out that a friend of a coworker passed away. She was a 32 year old, seemingly healthy, mother of two. While going to check on her son, she collapsed on the floor and would not get up again. The second reminder came courtesy of my nephew. He was taken in for an emergency procedure tonight in an attempt to keep from being permanently blind in one eye. He is 22 and lives life with all the ease his age would dictate. The cause of his problem is unknown and his current situation was utterly unpredictable.

They say you can never really appreciate something until it's gone. I implore you to challenge that saying each and every day of your life. Work hard to appreciate all the wondrous gifts bestowed upon you. Dream of them before you get them, love them while you have them, and remember them fondly when they are gone. Don't take the warmth of any more sunsets for granted, for you never know when you have seen, or even lived, your last one.