13 years ago, my grandfather passed away. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Although I was only 11 years old, his life had already made a tremendous impact on me. Despite his Alzheimer’s Disease, I saw a man who loved his children dearly and who had a wife that would give up her life for him. It was this beautiful, unconditional love that has taught me a lot about life and death.

I remember seeing an episode of a television series where a certain scene brought me to tears. One of the characters had recently passed away and the daughter’s friend was having trouble coming to terms with it. She couldn’t understand why one minute the deceased was there, the next she wasn’t. And how she would never have a drink again, never yawn again, never brush her hair again. This scene got me really choked up because it highlighted the reality of death: how it marks the end of life.

But as final as ‘death’ appears to be, it never has to be the end. Every person on Earth will leave behind their family, their friends, the work they’ve done, the difference they’ve made to people’s lives. Their physical existence may be gone, but all their accomplishments, all their achievements leave behind a lasting memory.

And I think that is why we shouldn’t fear death. We can’t live life wondering when our ‘moment’ will come, we can only live the life that we already have RIGHT NOW.

Have a think about times in your life when you didn’t care about the end result; when you just wanted to enjoy the experience. Take, for an instance, a sporting game with your friends. Think about how enthusiastic you were, how free you felt not caring if you won or not. That pure, precious moment of feeling HAPPY.

To me, that’s what life should be.

We’ve all been given this gift: this gift of life. And I think we need to embrace it.

It’s okay to be scared, it’s okay to wonder whether your life is headed in the right direction. We all feel that way sometimes.

But don’t let your fear of death, and fear of the future, dictate your life. Do the things that make you happy, be with the people that make you feel loved, and accomplish the goals that you’ve always dreamed of.

Life will always be worth living. But the quality of its worth is up to you.

Thuy Le (formerly known as Thuy Yau) is a freelance writer and Youth Work graduate living in Perth, Australia. She loves to share her own personal experiences about overcoming adversity, as she believes that human beings are more capable than they realise. She writes to make a positive difference in the world and to inspire others to learn from themselves and their own experiences. Her writing has been discussed on radio, won writing contests, appeared on The Huffington Post UK and major Australian sites such as news.com.au, SMH, Kidspot and Essential Kids. She has just completed her first book – a memoir - and is on the search for a publisher.