Perhaps I lost sight of what was truly important all along. Maybe I was so caught up in all of the details that I had forgotten what was the bigger picture. Yet I share with you the confession that this past week has been a complete wake-up call to my life and how I approach it.
Life is very fragile, and so delicate and irreplaceable, that it absolutely must be fulfilled as you see fit. If I learned anything this past weekend, it's that you have to enjoy what you want. You have to do what you feel is right, and live the way you want to live, because if you don't, then no one will do it for you. It's your own life to live, and that means it is up to you to ensure that one day, when you look back on how far you've come, there is no second guessing anything along the journey.
Do what you want to and have to do, and handle your business. If there's a passion of yours people do not necessarily agree with or think is right, then persevere. If it feels right to you, do it. And carry yourself in it with such a strong conviction and passion that other people may feel convinced that, "You know what? Maybe he was right after all."
Hold the people that you do care about close to you. If you feel strongly about a certain person, then let them know. Not later, not tomorrow, not when the time is right. You let them know right now. Because there may come a time when they can't hear the words that you tell them. Kanye West once said, "People never get the flowers while they can still smell 'em." Hand deliver those flowers, while there's still time, while they can still come to the door.
Now I fully realize so many other people have gotten this well before me. I have been blessed to attend a great university of bright, young minds that seem to simply know these different things that I have yet to completely understand. So if I may, I write this as an open letter to myself - and anyone else who may have been lost in the details - to serve as a reminder to never lose sight of what's at stake, of what's truly important.
I hope this shows you I was listening all along, Old Man. I know that this one made you smile.
Contact Miko at mmalabut@nd.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
