There are memories that bring up a smile on your lips and warmth in your heart. A smile, though, maybe a mere expression of thought, means much more.

We leave so much to an unknown tomorrow—words unsaid, dreams shattered, possibilities lost—all in a maze of human regret. Our lives can be full of revelations and seemingly more than just a bag of chocolates or a birthday party waiting at the steps of your door. During my school days, memories were something I yearned and prized to live with. But I couldn’t possibly create memories that only sprung the frontiers of ecstasy and happiness. Our lives are like that too with stories never foretold and unseen.

Someone rightly said that reflecting on goodbyes reawakens you to what’s truest about life. As I think about farewells, I start to reckon what my friends had possibly left unsaid, unfinished. 

And I think about what I would regret, should I not be here tomorrow. Sometimes life seems oblivious and yet overwhelming. We try to make our lives something more than life itself.

Whether life offers us the dreams we have or not, the thing that remains unchanged is that we shouldn’t let despair dawdle them. What we accomplish in our lives depend on how we look at it. I too wish to dream my life and then live upon those dreams. With every day that passes I learn not to leave too much for tomorrow—whether it’s a simple thank you or a hug, whether it’s singing out loud or dancing in the serenity of pattering raindrops, whether it is sorting out differences or setting things right—I do it today. Life doesn’t wait for anyone. Living life purposefully and meaningfully is the best way to turn the dreams we live by into reality.

Each of us creates the life we live. 

I want to live each day truly alive, embracing everything life offers. I want to reach the end of the road knowing that what I did will endure long after my journey here is over. I want to be able to make a difference —however small to have contributed to other lives. All I want is to live with the hope that I can be a reason for someone else’s smile.

Pokhrel is a +2 student at St Xavier’ s College