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Jessy Vonada

Bowyer

Expos

13 Dec. 2016

The Value of Life

Living and being alive are positively two contrasting ideas. According to the dictionary,

to live is to remain alive; and to be alive is to be living not dead. Life is a great deal more special

than a set in stone dictionary definition. Living itself is so incredibly complex that even the

dictionary defines the words live and alive to be coherent, one cant exist without the other.

Essentially to live is to breathe and do the bare minimum to simply, for lack of better words,

exist. Being alive on the other hand is more than just existing, it is a feeling deep within your

soul that allows you to love, to appreciate and to enjoy every moment on this Earth to the fullest

extent. Life should be valued by genuine experiences, meaningful relationships, and exceptional

accomplishments. Although life is measured in years, this doesnt mean the quality of a persons

life is more significant the longer they live.

To feel alive to is to be able to love. A life without love isnt a life worth living. To love

is to break down your walls of insecurity, give trust to the person that holds your heart when it is

still quite possible they could inflict pain. To love someone it is necessary to love yourself first.

Self love is creating a relationship with yourself much stronger than any other relationship. The

body as the temple, and the soul as a gateway to letting down your guards. Love is effortlessly

the most meaningful and deep feeling of emotion that a person could inhabit. Life does its job by
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teaching people the impact love has on the world. In the movie Me Before You, Will, a

tragedy-stricken paralyzed man, hopelessly falls in love with his caregiver, Lou. Will learns what

it is like to love and be loved in return. When you love and worship someone, their happiness

and well being comes before your own. Although perhaps it doesnt seem to help Lus happiness

by Will following through with his assisted suicide, essentially he did it for her own good. This

movie proves the theory that to love someone wholeheartedly is the epitome of being alive even

during the last breath you take.

Not every moment on this Earth is meant to be perfect. A rainbow doesnt exist without

rain. In other words, happiness doesnt exist without sadness. Just like being alive doesnt exist

without living. Life isnt about the struggle, the problem, or the challenge. Life is about how you

react, how you solve problems, and how you look at the struggle and take it head on. Charles

Swindoll, world renowned author and educator, declares, We cannot change the inevitable. The

only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude I am convinced

that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it (Attitude). Attitude can change a

persons outlook on life in a positive or negative way. Chris Jones agrees that attitude can

increase the quality of someones life from excerpts of his article, Robert Ebert: The Essential

Man. Ebert, a famous film critic who not only lost his jaw, but his voice to cancer. Ebert could

have given up, but that would be the elementary way out. Instead his attitude was more positive

than ever. Jones remarks, His thumbs have become more than a trademark, theyre an essential

means for Ebert to communicate. He falls into a coughing fit, but he gives his thumbs-up,

meaning hes okay (The Essential Man). Even under the most crucial and death bound
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circumstances, an attitude can improve the quality of life on Earth and help to appreciate each

and every moment of being alive.

The value of a persons life should not be centered around age, materialistic items, or

money. Life should be valued by what you do with it. Every accomplishment, positive attitude

and meaningful relationship builds an outstanding quality of life. Learning to love and appreciate

is essential to not just living, but being alive. Love, appreciate, enjoy, be alive, and value life.

Word Count: original word count was 1247, I counted that I deleted 226 words

OFFICIAL word count: 1028

Works Cited

Me Before You. Dir. Thea Sharrock. Perf. Emilia Clarke, Sam Clafin. MGM, 2016. DVD.

Jones, Chris. Roger Ebert: The Essential Man. Esquire 16 Feb. 2010. Web.