I wondered where I—and life—would be on this birthday. In my 20s, life became bigger than anything I knew how to fit in a post, or conversation. It became easier to share nothing than explain everything. Some of the happiest moments of my life were happening at the same time as the hardest. We imagine life as a series of happy seasons & hard seasons, one arriving only after the other ends. But the moments that filled my heart & the ones that broke it weren’t seasons apart. Sometimes they happened within days; within hours; all at once. Life is unpredictable in breathtaking & heartbreaking ways. One moment you're planning a future with someone you love. Next, you're making a memorial poster for their funeral. One moment you're the epitome of health. Next, you're hearing doctors say words you never imagined. We never know, it’s what makes every moment precious; an ordinary day extraordinary. Life isn’t highlights or heartbreaks, it’s both. It doesn't wait for your heart to heal before giving more to love or wait for grief to pass before giving another reason to laugh. It asks we hold both & sometimes the most beauty is found in a chapter we never would have chosen. The more life I live, I realize life isn't measured by how untouched we remain, but by how fully we allow ourselves to experience this life while we have it & how willing we are to embrace it all – every moment that makes us who we are. Today, I embrace all. The joy. The grief. The wins. The setbacks. Dancing on the beach & laying in a hospital bed. It’s all me. Through every high & every low, every loss & every blessing, every moment that broke me & every moment that put me back together – I’m here, experiencing, growing, living. For that, I am infinitely grateful. Don’t take life for granted. You are loved. Tell your people you love them. Count your blessings, we have far more than we realize. Nothing is guaranteed. It is not the years in your life, it is the life in your years. Prioritize what fills your soul. Feel, experience, & embrace it all—the breathtaking moments, the heartbreaking ones, & every extraordinarily ordinary moment in between – unapologetically & wholeheartedly. - @nessiatiktok