It’s easy for us to assume we understand the people who surround us in our daily lives, but it’s so much more than that.

In reality, every single person who walks by you is living a life just as vivid and complex as your own, and you may not realize it.

My favorite word encapsulates this concept: sonder, which is the realization that everyone you’ve seen has their thoughts, stories and struggles just as profound as yours.

This leads me to my point: every one of us has reaped countless experiences and life lessons throughout living and learning in school.

Every single one of us has made decisions that have inevitably intertwined our paths to share our life lessons. Every decision we make is part of the journey of life, and we have the privilege of experiencing the gift of life.

Life is short. Life is fickle. Life is ever-changing. Life is the one shot we have, and it is always full of uncertainty. Because of that, we should cherish every day we have, because tomorrow isn’t promised.

I can guarantee many of us have regrets about the things we wish we did in our seemingly four short years of high school. I promise you, I have many regrets myself.

Anywhere from not working hard enough or enjoying life enough to staying up late more times than I can count. No one in their last moments of their lives is lying in a deathbed wishing that they did less. I promise you in their last breaths, they always longed to do one more thing, one more chance to make it right or one more day to truly live.

Countless opportunities are waiting for you, and all it takes is one yes to bring you completely to another world of new perspectives.

What I’m trying to say is that because life is short, you should say “Yes” to everything and anything (within reason of course).

Now, it’s not to say or condone doing drugs or following the suspicious guy into his white van because he’s offering candy and not harvesting your organs, but to say “Yes” to things you’ve never done before or considered trying. I want you to say “Yes.”

To end with a quote from the French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre: “The more sand has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

With time comes wisdom — the wisdom to appreciate others, to make the most of every moment and to have fewer regrets.

But why should we wait for the fleeting sands to pass by?

I want you to see clearly through the hourglass and realize there’s plenty of time to make the most of life. I want you to live life without regrets and, most importantly, say “Yes!”