I Believe – Term Paper

 This I believe speech

Everyone who has ever been in high school has heard the saying, “Live like there is no tomorrow.” This saying is used to remind all generations nothing lasts forever. Each generation comes up with a curative way of saying this,  from “Carpe Diem” to “Yolo” everyone understands what it means. Living in the moment let’s me get the most out of life while learning from the mistakes I make. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t ask myself if I’m living my life to the fullest and in the smartest way possible. I never knew how short life could be until my mom received the phone call that changed my life.

It was a normal Sunday afternoon, and I had spent the whole weekend with my best friend Rhylan. It had been about an hour since we had gotten back home from church, and my mom was on her way to pick me up. Everything had seemed normal when I got in the car… until right before we turned out of the neighborhood. It was my aunt who had frantically called my mom. She said, “Sherry just called; she said Daddy had a stroke, and they’re on the way to the hospital!”  My mom responded, “What?! I’m on my way now!” Even though I was eavesdropping the entire time, I asked, “Mommy what did she say? Where are we going?!” She simply reiterated what she was told trying to be as calm as she could for me at least. At the time, I was young and naive I was an eighth grader and I was only thirteen years old. I had an idea of what a stroke was, but I was going off of my own theory which was that it was the end, and that my Papa, also known as my Grandpa, wasn’t going to make it.; The next six months of my entire life revolved around Papa. That experience taught me more than I ever wanted to know about strokes and just how easily life can end. This moment was one of the scariest moments of my life. Luckily it wasn’t the end. I’m glad to say that my Papa recovered tremendously, and I’m thankful for him being here today. 

After his minor setback, I learned to live as if there was no tomorrow by not taking everyone I love for granted. From that moment on, I’ve started to show way more emotions than I have ever shared in my life because everyone wants to be loved. Living as if there was no tomorrow is easier said than done because I have a strong conscience. This is why I try to make smart decisions and still do everything I want to do with no regrets.;;