As a child, I frequently found myself in and out of hospitals due to my persistent asthma. I would gaze out the window, watching the other kids play, and wish for better health. During one particularly memorable overnight stay, I prayed to God, asking Him to heal me. I promised that if He granted me this wish, I would dedicate my life to helping others.
Fortunately, God answered my prayer. We moved to the U.S., and I became as healthy as any teenager, leaving behind the days of hospital visits. Throughout my formative years, I experienced minimal sickness, the normal cold or flu perhaps, but my asthma didn’t return. Regardless, I have always remembered the promise I made to God. This commitment strengthens my resolve to help others. I aim to become a servant leader and do as much as possible to contribute to my community, seizing every opportunity to assist those in need.
When we are young, we often believe we will live forever, thinking that the future is too distant to worry about. With so many days ahead of us, we feel almost immortal. However, as we grow older, we come to understand that our days are numbered from the moment we are born. Experiencing death in our family at a young age serves as a wake-up call, reminding us that there is an end to everything. The people we encounter in this life are here for only a short while; our existence is merely a blip in the vast timeline of the Earth, which has existed for billions of years. This realization can awaken us to a profound truth and, in many ways, it becomes a source of suffering.
This year, I lost many loved ones who passed away. In many ways, their journeys have come to an end, and it feels like the parts of me that were connected to them are now just memories frozen in time. The experience resembles stepping into a new timeline where they no longer exist, yet I still hold onto memories of their existence in my mind. Those memories now feel like figments of my past self.
Death has a unique way of reminding us of our mortality. Every day we live is a blessing because tomorrow is not promised. I believe that extraordinary individuals who die young are aware of their limited time, prompting them to make the most of every moment to fulfill their life’s purpose.
We all have a goal for our existence, whether achieving something specific or simply experiencing the lessons our souls need to learn. Feelings of self-loathing, insecurity, anxiety, hopelessness, and boredom can often stem from forgetting our purpose as immortal souls navigating a temporary existence.
Some of us may instinctively know our purpose, while others might need to discover it as we go through life. Perhaps the mystery of life is that things can seem meaningless; it is up to us to create meaning, provide context, and shape our reality. Ultimately, the wheel turns, the cycle of everything and nothing continues, and our soul moves to its next path.