Seize the day by showing love

I read yesterday that the remains of the Latina singer, Jenni Rivera, were found and at that moment I thought about her family. I honestly didn’t’ follow her singer career as much as other Latinos, I actually learned about her when I moved to this country. However, at that exact moment I felt so sad because if there’s something I knew about Jenni Rivera was the infinite and very demonstrative love she had for her loved ones.

I read an article on NBC Latino about her children and the type of relationship she had with each of them. Like every normal family, they had their ups and downs -although because she was a celebrity everything was broadcasted- but the special and strong bond they had was palpable. I could only imagine the major impact this will have in their lives, these children must be feeling an incurable pain because of their mother’s sudden death. After reading this article and learn the type of relationship Jenni had with her children and how they were coping with her loss, I felt incredibly thankful and blessed to have my parents alive.The fact that I could have my mother with me right at this moment and that, God willing, soon I will be reunited with the rest of my family in Peru, made me see the importance to express your love everyday to those who mean something to you.

Unfortunately situations like this, come to us most of the times as a wake up call. Yes, we definitely should live life as best as we can, enjoy it and do what makes us happy. But this message is not to only live our life, sometimes at other’s expense, just thinking about ourselves. Life is not only about us, our goals, our objectives, and all the things we believe we should earn before leaving this world. Life is about the time we spend with others, the time we dedicate to those who we love. Life is about us + those who surround us, how we impact other’s lives and how we create special moments with our loved ones.

Yes, our personal motivations and goals should be our main objectives, but sometimes we forget those other reasons that make life worth living. We should enjoy our days with those who love us unconditionally, those who stick to us through thick and thin. We shouldn’t hold grudges towards anyone, even if they did us wrong; If there’s an issue solve it today, if you did your part and that issue can’t be solved because of the other person involved is not willing to let it go, then at least you know you tried your best and you move on with a clean conscious and free from negativity.

I’ve gone through a lot of tests this year, tests of faith, forgiveness and compassion, and hard circumstances like Jenni Rivera’s death and what their family are going through make me realize that I should seriously learn something about those tests and be thankful for them. Today, more than yesterday, we need to appreciate those who are with us at this specific moment, especially our family (whoever we consider family) because we don’t know if that person will be here tomorrow to hear us say I love you, I miss you, I forgive you let’s move on, I want a future with you, You make me happy, etc. We have to seize the moment every day, having our personal goals in mind but also those who are important to us.