My heart sank last week as I received a call that someone I love was in the hospital awaiting heart surgery.  And then again two days later when I got the message a friend has cancer. And finally, when I turned on the news Sunday to hear of another deadly shooting that had senselessly taken human lives.

This was my week. Receiving news no one ever wants to hear. Hospital. Cancer. Shooting.

Each time I heard the bad news, the force of the words stole the breath from my lungs. So much so that by the time I heard of the Orlando shooting, I felt surely I had no more air to lose.

Each time, I had the same response, a gut wrenching, “NO!!!”

And each time my heart sank to the depths of my being.

Times like these, the mind is incapable of processing such shocking information. But, the heart responds immediately. The heart feels pain instantaneously, unlike anything the mind could imagine. It hurts so, because it has the capacity to love so deeply.

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It’s hard for my mind to know how to grapple with these devastating turn of events.

One minute I’m going about my day, making my mental to do list, adding each chore and responsibility, evaluating how I will  have time to fit it all in. The next minute I am stopped dead in my tracks as my heart swells with sadness and disbelief.

When unexpected heartbreak comes, the sense of overwhelming helplessness and grief propels us into a darkness that we aren’t sure how to emerge from.

But we do. eventually we do. After time, we start to observe the glimmers of light that continue to shine bright, illuminating the reasons life is good.

It is precisely this deep and unfathomable pain which brings us to our knees that shows us what is important in this life; what really matters.

Once we begin to emerge from the sadness, we can start to understand why we are here. What it all means.

[Tweet “Deep and unfathomable pain will end up showing us what is important in this life. “]

We are here to make the most of every single day. Every single one! Because we don’t know what tomorrow brings.

We are here to appreciate and relish our one precious life with enthusiasm and with a love so great it can calm the ocean.

We are here to jump out of bed with a hearty THANK YOU and a verve so enormous nothing can get in it’s way.

We are here to LIVE!

This is what matters.

Because if we’re not really living-if we are just sleepwalking through life-what is the point?

[Tweet “If we aren’t making the most of our life, then what is the point?”]

If we are not thankful and using every minute of our lives to love big; to utilize every opportunity the world puts in front of us, to appreciate all we have then just what is the damn point?

To work way too much at a mediocre job? To drive a fancy car beyond our means? To make ourselves so busy that we never have time for our loved ones, let alone ourselves? To get to the end of our life and regret all the things we didn’t do?

Is this the point?

I don’t think so.

I think the point is to live the best freaking life we possibly can.

I think the only way to grapple with the bad things that happen in this world is to fire back with good. With great. With awesome. With love. With joy. With fun. With passion. With a full life.

[Tweet “The only way to grapple with the bad things that happen in this world is to fire back with good. “]

The only remedy for pain and loss is living a full and vibrant life and loving so hard that darkness can never find a way in. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.

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Have you ever noticed that when you’ve been in a dark room and come outside into the sunshine, the light is so bright it almost hurts? After being in the darkness, when we finally see the sunlight, it’s blinding?

This is what happens with pain. After we emerge from the darkness, we realize how bright the light really is.

When we allow ourselves to really feel our pain and grief it deepens our ability to love and to be happy and recognize what really matters . . . if we let it.

We can either bury our head in the sadness and focus on the hurt or we can make a goal to enjoy every little moment we are given. To spend time on what truly matters and make this life the absolute best it can be.

So, when you look at your to do list for today, ask yourself, does it matter? Does it really matter? Is it going to matter tomorrow? Next month? Next year?

Really look at the things you make a priority and decide, if this is was your last day, do the things on your list really matter? And if they don’t, shouldn’t you replace them with things that do?

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