Being able to take a breath at the start of each new day is what matters most to me. I have seen too many people, including my father, take their last breath far before it was a seemingly good time. Memories were stolen, regrets imprinted, and desires vanished. From this, I can't seem to shake the feeling of desperation and urgency in making the most of each day. After experiencing death as closely as I did, months went by when each breath I took in the morning was a gasp, waking me up from a nightmare I was drowning in. When I turned the corner, hoping to find a sense of resurgence, I was faced with the worldwide pandemic that seemed to shut down every corner of the world, and every facet of my dreams. I would be lying if I said that I did not think those people who were no longer here clocked out just in time, wishing I could join them. We always want what we don't have, and we always take advantage of the things we do. I have spent years of my life, trillions of breaths, wishing and hoping rather than simply living. It took a lot of death, and a lot of isolation, to recognize the clear difference between living and not just being alive. Still yet, forcing myself to push through and complete the goals I made for myself when there wasn't a thunderstorm over my head, I did my best to make it count and go through life with some hope for "what could be". It never dawned on me that the thing that really matters is "what already is". I have a better grasp of understanding and connecting to the reasoning behind each breath now. I am thankful that I can count myself lucky, a survivor of the hardest moments in my life to date. I have more fingers than I have people, at this point. However, their memories on my life are inspirations for me to move forward, and carry their breath with me. Remaining in the past and revisiting the what-ifs became a trance deeper than sleep, slowing my breathing to almost stillness. Remembering the possibilities in today are what makes yesterday unremarkable and tomorrow unnoticeable to me. I have known that I wanted to be a lawyer since I was 10 years old, thanks to the help of my father breathing passion into me. He may no longer be here, but that breath remains, and mine does too. I cannot accomplish, or even fathom the significance of anything in the world without a breath each second. It provides clarity, connects people, and it creates new moments that I am still privileged to take part in. Being able to use the knowledge in my brain, the passion in my heart, and the urgency in my soul to complete a trifecta of momentum and velocity in this day and age seems to be the fuel that keeps my engine running.