beyond life

Life is so precious.

This week something happened where I have earned a deep appreciation for the knowledge of the gospel. Wednesday morning I walked into work to distraught co-workers.
Shortly after my arrival, I was told of something that happened the previous night at the gym...

It was 6pm and everyone was on their normal nightly ritual, for some it was to work and others to work out. No one expected what was about to happen.
A man in his early 40's was stretching in front of a machine when suddenly, he collapsed.
Immediately, people gathered around shouting for help.
While people were surrounding this man, curious to what just happened.. they realized that he wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse. As everyone was waiting for the paramedics, the operator on 911 was aiding in any help that they could give him.
Paramedics arrived shortly and they rapidly began trying to resuscitate him.
However, in their minds trying to do so was hopeless.
This husband, father & friend had passed away before he reached the ground.
He suffered from a brain aneurysm.
Within a instant, a life was lost.

This experience has made me realize the importance of life.
You always hear "live as if today was your last", & "live your life to the fullest". But do we truly take that to heart? Life can be gone in an instant. And I believe that. So I want to challenge myself to live the best way that I can. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that I have that there is life after death, and I hope and pray that his family has that same knowledge.
Someday, I will be able to return to my Father in Heaven.
His arms extended out to me, I can say that I had made mistakes but lived with trying my hardest to do the things that I know are right.

"It is necessary to prepare, to plan, so that we don't fritter away our lives. Without a goal, there can be no real success. The best definition of success I have ever found goes something like this: Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. Someone has said the trouble with not having a goal is that you spend your life running up
and down the field and never crossing the goal line." -President Thomas S. Monson