Imagine you are an immigrant in the U.S. You went through the whole process to get you and your family here legally, so you can get an education. Then, you and your whole family get covid, you can't go to classes and you can't work. The ministry you are involved with can't give you money because it will violate your visa and somehow you have to pay your monthly rent and other bills. It all seems hopeless and then someone you barely even know, but who has heard of you and what you have been doing for others gives you money to help cover your costs no strings attached. The story I just told you is a true story. The person in the story was struggling, and I was able to help them out financially. I met them once before and they were very kind and welcoming. I met them through my grandfather who had lots of praise about how this person had the drive to help others and live generously. As I am writing this, the person is back on their feet, working, taking a ton of classes to finish their degree, heavily involved at their church, and making a difference in our world. With that context, the quality I value most in myself is generosity. Generosity makes a difference in this world. By helping the person in the story, I not only helped them but also by extension all the people who are benefiting from the work this person is doing. Imagine once again you are the person in the story who was struggling and someone helped you. Wouldn't you be more willing to help others after having someone help you out when you needed it most? So how will this quality help me in my life journey? If we are talking about me specifically, the Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. I believe that it is true if I can bless others I am blessed. How much more fulfilling is a life where you don't need to selfishly think about how everything is going to affect you. Where you can spend your time making other people's lives better. Where you can spread the love you have for others. As I mentioned earlier, if you are generous with others they are more likely to be generous with others. If more people were generous, the world would be a much happier and better place.

How would you interpret this question? What is the best way to live? Or maybe it is asking how you can extend your life and live healthier. Without the writer of the question present to discern for us what they are asking, it is up to the reader of the question to decide. In this short essay, I will answer both of these questions to the best of my ability. How can you extend your life and live healthier? These two questions are related. If you are physically more healthy, you have more potential for longer life. How can you become more physically healthy? Eating healthier is a good place to start. Drink less soda and drink more water too. If you were so worried about not living long enough you could start avoiding things in life that could kill you, but what then? Are you really living? What is the best way to "live"? Well, for starters, don't just think about doing things, actually do them. Make your dreams happen, or at least make something happen. What is the point of waking up in the morning, going home, and waking up the next day to do the same thing? Make your life dynamic, change something up and go on a trip. Try something new, go out with people whose company you enjoy, and plan an event with your family. The key point is to do instead of don't. What matters is not how much time you have, but what you do with the time you were given. I am sure you have heard that statement before, or at least something similar. In The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien Gandalf says "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us"

Life is quite an interesting game. If you play your cards right you just might enjoy it. But what does it mean to enjoy life? Is it all about wealth? Or maybe it is about family, people, and fellowship. Can you enjoy life while still helping other people? When I think of potentially raising a family someday I think of my own parents. I have a whole list of things that I would do differently than them. I would say out of everything that has happened in my life the sole catalyst of change and cause of my "hopes for the future" was the people in my life. All sorts of people come in and out of our lives, friends, loved ones, and random strangers. All of which influence us more than we may realize. Whether we want to be like them or we don't we are still influenced greatly by others. The example of parents, when I raise my own family I want to do some things differently, but at the same time, I also have learned some useful things from them. I do hope for a family someday, I hope to do better than generations before me. I want to strive to improve in every way I can. Learn from both other people's and my mistakes. I want to be successful in life.