Sniffles and SmilesBy Kristel Keith N. Nieva

Sobs, cries, anger, fear, joy, frustration, envy, jealousy, sorrow, loveall of these mixed up, jumbled in the turbulent world we have and most of the times we may ask, Lord, why did this happen to me? . Little do we know that God is just sprinkling bits of difficulties and obstacles in the world so that we can fully understand the gift, the most precious gift that He has given us, our life.Our lifethe oxygen we breathe, the billion strands of veins carrying blood keeping us alive, the gallons of water we consume, every crumbs of bread we eat everyday and most importantly the wisdom of God guiding us through our everyday living.Thirteen years had passed since I have seen the light coming out from my mothers womb. I have seen life then as just life, as me, but now, things have change, and principles differed. Life is not just a simple word, it is more than that, deeper than that, it keeps us alive now and then for it is the irreplaceable gift God has given us. He gave it to us because he loves us.Life is not always fair. Sometimes you can get a splinter even sliding down a rainbow.Life is not fair, it may be simple but it is not easy. Life is the doppelganger of expecting the unexpected, the sister of every emotion we feel, and the mother of every thing we do. Sometimes it brings us smiles but most of the times we get sobs. It makes us suffer the consequences our decisions bring. But this just happen because God wants us to learn, to accept mistakes and to acquire thoughts we taught will never be a part of us. Yes, life is like licking honey off a thorn. It can cause you hurt, but its sweet, the reward is priceless.Life is like a blanket too short. You pull it up and your toes rebel, you yank it down and shivers meander about your shoulder; but cheerful folks manage to draw their knees up and pass a very comfortable night. Life is like nature, we are just a part of it. Dominance is an option for life, but for us, its not. We have to adjust, to be flexible enough so that we are jiving in the same music and tempo with life. We have to adapt and at the same time enjoy every moment it brings to us, for this is the key in living life to the fullestyou just hang around until you get used to it.Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.In our life, we are the painter, we are the artist, and we are the ones who express our emotions and pick the right kind of hue to be put in our gigantic obra maestra. We should value every second that passes us by, to do things like it would be our last day on earth. To treasure each morning and night we had and have and to live each day to the fullest. As with the popular adage, the tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once. God has given us life to have the opportunity to experience the happiness brought by things on Earth. But life, not like most of us ask, never has a second chance. Time cannot be brought back or even stopped to correct what we have already done. We cannot pause it to times where we feel like we are in seventh heaven, or to fast forward to those times we fell like we are in hell. And so it says, there is really no destiny because things werent made for us, we make them. It is just a matter of will and courage to face the consequences brought by things we had done in the past.Living involves tearing up one rough draft after another. Life is full of mistakes, and it is our choice whether to make up for it or to leave things behind and think that nothing really happened. But thats why God created tomorrow, next week or even next month. To make us realize that it doesnt really matter it we did something stupid, because every does it, but what matters most is how we fill up for that mistake we had done. How we changed, and how it made us a better person is the true essence of learning in life.He who has nothing to die for has nothing to live for.In three words, I can sum up everything Ive learned about life. It goes on. Few of us write great novels; all of us live them.Life is easier than youd think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensible, and bear the intolerable.To the student I would say, Life is principally multiple choice, but at the end theres a tough essay question.The meaning of life is not an unquestionable answer; it is an unanswerable question.