60 seconds

I set my alarm to 6:36 because 6:35 was a little too early.
Because 6:36 ends with an even and 6:35 is just a little too odd.

Because we all need that extra minute.
Those extra 60 seconds to save a life
those extra 60 seconds to remind you to keep yours.

We all breathe in the same clean air and with each exhale we release the same dirty sorrows.
The same dirty regrets.
The dirty regrets that 60 seconds can't change, but we wish they could.

For some reason we keep breathing.

Breathing in and breathing out.

And with each exhale we add to the pollution.
But isn't it beautiful that with each exhale we remove the fog that once obstructed our lungs.
The fog that blinds our hearts and blinds our minds.

So keep breathing.
Because your heart keeps beating.
And it will continue to beat approximately 60-100 times a minute.

That's 100,000 times a day
42 million a year
and more than 2.5 billion times in a lifetime.

And this all started with 60 seconds.

But that one minute turns into an hour
and the hours turn into days
and those days turn into months
which soon turn into years.

And pretty soon you have a lifetime behind you.
And even when the days get hard and the 60 seconds seem to be taking too long
remember that your heart keeps beating.

And you are worth more than 2.5 billion heartbeats.

Because you are alive.

And don't you dare stop breathing.