Worth Living

I was standing in my bathroom in front of the medicine cabinet with a mirror in my hands admiring the new artwork on my back. I had to hold my black hair up in order to see the full tattoo. Despite smudges, the simple black letters stood out perfectly clear. I smiled to myself knowing I would forever have my life's motto on my pale flesh. The tattoo was simple, but it meant so much to me. The pain I had endured earlier that day was defiantly worth it.
Across my shoulders in bold print was the words, "One day your life is going to flash before your eyes," and beneath it was written - in a thinner, more elegant writing - Just make sure it's worth watching."
As I read the ink for what must have been the hundredth time that day, I remembered why I had decided to get it in the first place.
When I was in junior high, I was nothing more than a wallflower. I never spoke what I thought and had no real friends. Everyday I felt detached, like I was just a ghost watching others live while I hid in the shadows. I never thought of life, or much of anything for that matter. I just coasted by, never realizing that I actually had the potential to be truly happy and not just content.
That all changed when I nearly died.
As my mother was driving me home from school one random winter day, she ran a stop sign. A speeding truck drove in front of us. He got the front end of our car and both vehicles careened off the road. Thankfully nobody had anything worse than some cuts and bruises. Well, my mom had a totaled car but that's beside the point. When the car slid off the pavement I literally saw my life flash before my eyes. Cliche, I know, but it changed my life.
I realized that I had never lived. Nothing in my memories even came close to an adrenaline rush, or a worried, yet excited, I-hope-I-don't-get-caught moment, or anything but a grayness from a lack of emotions a experiences. I decided that day I would find out who I was and what I liked, that I would take risks and live.
As it turned out, I love adventure and monster movies. I now work as a special effects make up artist. It's wonderful really, watching a normal human be turned into a horrific creature beneath your hands. Plus, they don't care how many tattoos you have! Which is a good thing because I have a feeling I'll be getting more very soon.