WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF TODAY WAS YOUR LAST DAY?

Ted Mosby once said, "But that's the funny thing about destiny: it happens whether you plan it or not. It turns out I was just too close to the puzzle to see the picture that was forming."

I've spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not I believe in destiny. Do we have a set path that we will end up following no matter what we choose? If so, does it really matter what we choose? Because if that was true, wouldn't everything just happen like it was supposed to anyway?

But if we are in charge of our own destiny, then we are also to blame when things don't turn out how we want them to.

I have spent my entire life wondering what my life will eventually be. I spend so much time trying to figure out what comes next that sometimes I forget that life is happening right now. Sometimes I actually have to take time to remind myself to live in the moment.

So, it got me thinking: what if I only had one more day? How would I spend it? Who would I spend it with?

If today was my last day, I would spend it with my best friends and my family. I would play hide-and-go-seek with my little sister as many times as she wanted. I would let everyone in my life know how much they really mean to me and how much they affect who I am every day.

If today was my last day, I wouldn't spend so much time on my phone, because nothing on Facebook is really ever that interesting. And yet, I find myself glued to my phone more than I care to admit.

If today was my last day, I would get better at texting people back and call my grandma. I'm sorry, Grandma. I really do mean to call more.

If today was my last day, I would eat the ice cream, because sometimes happiness is about more than your waistline.

If today was my last day, I would stop taking everything so seriously. Life is a funny thing, and I think we all need to relax a little and just enjoy it.

If today was my last day, I would spend time in my favorite place: the ocean. If I could live anywhere in the world it would be right off the beach.

If today was my last day, maybe I could stop being so afraid of the future.

I don't know if I believe in destiny. I like to believe life is more "choose your own adventure" than it is a set path. But maybe it is time we stop thinking in terms of what our lives will become in the future. I love Ted Mosby. How I Met Your Mother is and always will be one of my favorite shows. But while Ted spent his entire life waiting for his life to start, he sometimes lost sight of what was right in front of him.

The worries of the future can consume you. They can eat you apart. But don't let them. Happiness seems to be this elusive goal that we all search for, but it doesn't have to be something we strive to attain in the future. You don't have to wait. Whatever your "destiny" is (if you believe you have one), it is important to try to find happiness in the present, because you can never be certain of what the future holds.

And that's okay.

What would you do if today was your last day?

She’s More than a BFF; She’s the BPIEM

Full disclosure: there are multiple people I could call best friends. But there is only person that I can say is the Best Person I’ll Ever Meet.

She’s the first friend I made when I came to Pilgrim Lane Elementary in April of first grade. She’s the one that knows all of my secrets and aspirations. She’s the one that I can always count on.

I don’t know if we would become friends if we met today. Part of me says that of course we would become friends because we are best friends. But we are also such different people that we probably wouldn’t be as close as we are now if we hadn’t known each other for nearly ten years.

Meet Grace:

Favorite Color: Purple (Like JB)

Favorite Guy: JB (And Zac Efron. And that guy Liam from One Direction. The List could go on)

Animal: Kangaroo (She still has one that I drew her on her wall in her room from 8^th grade)

Talent: Fashion—She is the best dressed girl at her high school. Without a doubt.

Sport: Cheerleading

Miscellaneous: She is the best friend anyone could ask for.

Despite our differences, being best friends has made us more like each other. Being friends with her has made me more girly. And she told me that being friends with me has made her a better person. She said, “I think I would have been a trouble maker, but you are such a goody-goody.” It was the first time I was ok with being called a goody-goody. She’s also the only person over 5-years-old (that isn’t a member of my family) allowed to call me Tay-Tay. You make exceptions for the people you care the most about.

For the past ten years we have been able to tell each other anything and everything. It’s almost like we’re married. Through sickness and health (and many stupid boys) we have always been there for each other. We really do have a best friend kind of marriage. We’ve already planned our lives together.

We will live in Medina but have large boats on Lake Minnetonka. We’ll have a boat for the day time and a boat to have parties on in the night time. We will live next to each other and at least one of us has to have a porch. In our twenties, we will both have great careers. Then will settle down and have kids. And they will be best friends too. When we are in our eighties, our husbands will be inside yelling at the TV, and we will be on the porch.

We have the future all planned out, but our past is just as much a part of our story as will be our future.

Our Playlist:

• “Count On Me” Bruno Mars
• “Down” Jay Sean (One night in the beginning of 9^th, we couldn’t stop playing it)
• “2012” Jay Sean
• “Moves Like Jagger”(That time the guy in the next car started laughing at her dancing)
• “One Time” Justin Bieber (How she discovered him before he was popular and we watched this video over and over and over again.)

Meeting Grace was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. As she likes to remind me, I think everything happens for a reason (Don’t take that too literally). What I mean is that I believe in serendipity. And meeting her was the greatest serendipitous moment of my life.

     I hope you know you can always Count On Me. 

"Sometimes in life there really are bonds formed that can never be broken. Sometimes you really can find that one person who will stand by you no matter what. Maybe you will find it in a spouse and celebrate it with your dream wedding. But there's also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you sometimes better than you know yourself is the same person who's been standing beside you all along."

(A quote from Bride Wars that describes our friendship)