My life, with all its ups and downs, unexpected twists and turns, has brought me to this moment. It took each one of the intricate, confusing and painful situations that I have found to bring me right here, right now. And I admit that I am a little scared, and I have the ability to smile even as I have a tear, I have the courage to ask for help when I need it and the wisdom to take it when they offer it to me, so I think I have everything I need. I just have to believe it to be able to take the next step.

We all have the pain caused by health problems, and when we experience this type of pain we usually say that we have nothing to be grateful for, because we forget something important about what we are going through: the pain of a health problem is ONLY for life, for those of us who still have the opportunity of a life. 

A few years ago, I met a person in the Hospital, she told me that the only thing she regretted was not having appreciated every year with the same passion and purpose she had had in the last two years of life, after she was diagnosed with cancer terminal. "I have achieved a lot recently and I appreciate a lot every step," he said. "If only I had known, it would have started earlier."

His words made me very sad and smile at the same time. What was truly miraculous was seeing the genuine gratitude in his eyes at that moment. I was sincerely grateful to have been able to achieve all that I had accomplished in its last two years. And his feeling has always remained with me. So, while I agree that health problems are never fun and can often be very painful and debilitating, the pain can still be mediated by a feeling of gratitude to be alive. Of still having the opportunity to move on. To have a life that is worthwhile, from the moment until the precious moment.

Death is one of the most difficult realities to face. A person who gave meaning to our life is no longer in our life (at least not in the flesh), and we are not the same person without them. We have to change who we are: now we are a best friend who feels lonely, a child without his mother, or a widow instead of a wife, or a father without a daughter or a neighbor of someone new. We want life to be as it was, before death, and yet it never will be. 

But can we be grateful that we have this person's gift in our lives? Yes…

I have dealt with the loss of my parents and lately of my mother, so I know from experience that when you lose someone you can not imagine living without your mother or father, your heart opens wide. And the bad news is that you never completely overcome the loss, you will never forget it. However, the other way around, we gradually learn that this is also the good news.

Ultimately, I understand that although death is an end, it is also a necessary part of life. And although endings like these often seem ugly, they are also necessary for beauty; otherwise, it is impossible to appreciate someone or something, because they are unlimited. Limits illuminate beauty, and death is the ultimate limit, a reminder that we should be aware of that beautiful person and appreciate this beautiful thing called life. Death is also a beginning, because although we have lost someone special, this ending, like the loss of any wonderful situation in life, is a moment of reinvention.

Although deeply sad, its passage forces us to gradually reinvent our lives, and in this reinvention it is an opportunity to experience beauty in new and invisible ways and places. And, finally, death is an opportunity to celebrate the life of a person and to be grateful for the beauty they showed us. 

We all need good reminders like these sometimes ... 

Because we easily forget how important it is to face the unexpected losses and the painful life changes we are going to find (no matter how much we try to avoid them). We forget to face our pain and negative thinking and take advantage of it to go back up and take the next step.

Yes, we must remind ourselves to get up and DO the difficult things we need to do to be happy again. The things that scare us. The things that others can not do for us. The things that make the difference between the existent and the living, between knowing the path and walking the path, between a life of empty promises and defeats and another full of happiness, possibility and renewed peace. 

In fact, millions of people live their entire lives in the default configuration, without realizing that they can customize everything. Do not be one of them. Do not settle for the default configuration of life. Do not be afraid Do not let your expectations of how everything "should be" blind you to the beauty of the life you are living. 

Have faith. 

Patricio Varsariah.