This I Believe

I shared this with the sophomores I student taught last semester. I did this lesson with my methods teacher. What do you believe in? "This I Believe" is a project that the NPR does. I decided it would be interesting to do with the sophomores while reading Night. Before I gave them an assignment, I read my own for them to get an idea from. This is what I believe in.

Belief is a powerful thing. It’s what holds humanity together. What do I believe in? This is a loaded question. What would a person be without their beliefs? They would be a shell of a person. Everyone has to believe in something.

I believe in a lot of things. I believe in sunsets, lying out on the beach, the waves of the ocean, being a Southern lady, thank you letters, good friendships, and that my Mommy can make anything better. I believe that watching a great episode of Grey’s and eating a piece of cake can really make you happy. I believe that my Granny sings the best lullabies and makes the best strawberry cake ever. I believe in prayer. I believe that I am suppose to be a teacher. But the one belief that has gotten me through, the one belief I always count on, is that everything happens for a reason.

Almost 5 years ago my beautiful and seemingly healthy cousin Melissa found out that she had cancer. It was a blow to our family and a shock to me. The question that kept bouncing in my mind was, ‘Why do good things happen to bad people?”. She fought a courageous battle and taught me many lessons during the way. Her humor and love of teaching powered her through her disease. Those things have stayed with me and will continue to be with me as I live my life.

Melissa lost her brave battle 3 years ago. There is not a day I don’t think about it, and probably never will be. It’s hard to lose someone who is so young. However, the things she taught me will continue to live on in me forever.

The most important lesson I learned through the experience with Melissa is that every single thing in life happens for a reason. Bad things, good things, crappy things, amazing things, they are all apart of the plan that holds your life together. There are many times in life and many situations when it would have been easy for me to give up. When it would be, for me, a better solution to just throw in the towel and call it a day. But, when I think to myself my simple belief and motto of ‘everything happens for a reason’, it somehow gets me through.

The lessons in our lives are sprinkled here and there. We are brought here on this Earth for a reason and the things that happen throughout it, good and bad, happen for a reason. Though it’s sometimes hard to see exactly what the reason is or why it’s happening, believing that one day we will figure it out, it helps me.

Everything happens for a reason. It’s a simple idea with so much with it. It gets me through. It always will.