12 Things You Learn When You Almost Lose Someone You Love

 @milevskaya
@milevskaya

1. You start realizing that life is unpredictable and in one moment everything you know can change and you should always cherish every moment you spend with those you love and stop taking them for granted.

2. The importance of making time for those you love and spending more time listening to them and talking to them so you don’t regret the time you spent apart or the times you weren’t there for them.

3. You put yourself in their shoes and start asking the important questions; the questions that will matter when it’s time to say goodbye to the world.

4. You begin to wonder if you should’ve said yes instead of no, if you should’ve put your pride aside and told someone how you felt, if you should’ve forgiven someone because your friendship was more important than your ego and if you should’ve been more open to the world instead of living in the cage of complacency. 

5. You ask for one more chance; one more chance to talk to them, one more chance to hold their hand, one more chance to tell them you love them and one more chance to appreciate their presence.

6. You remember the importance of making as many memories as you can with those you love because these memories will be all you’ll have when they’re gone, so make them count.

7. You start feeling guilty about all the lost time, the time you wasted being mad at them, the time you wasted arguing with them, the time you wasted being stubborn and the time you wasted hurting them.

8. You stop taking life for granted, you stop delaying things that matter — things that make you happy. You stop taking tomorrow for granted.

9. You stop complaining about the little things that bother you; like someone not texting you back or how bad your new haircut turned out. You’re more grateful for witnessing a new day and you start appreciating the little things in life.

10. You adopt a new mantra; to live with no regrets, to take that trip, to go on that date, to travel more, to pick up the phone and call people and hear people. To say I love you more often and to forgive easily.

11. You become humbler. When you learn that everything could end in the blink of an eye, you realize that at the end of the day, it’s your character that will matter, not your money, not your car and not your house.

12. You understand the essence of life. You understand why God is always asking us to be patient, to relax and trust him, because no matter how much you plan and how self-assured you are, there will always be things that are out of your control, things you will not be able to do anything about and times when there will be nothing for you to but pray and hope for the best. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

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