Finding a Way to Smile

It would be easy for someone like Zach Sobiech to sit back and think to himself “I hate my life.” Having terminal bone cancer could have caused Zach to become a person that gave up on everything. But instead he took life by the horns, enjoying every moment of it until the 18 year old had to bid farewell to his family and friends on May 20, 2013. This amazing young man took his unfortunate situation and used it to make people smile – the way he always did throughout his life. Singing and playing guitar had always been a passion for Zach, making music with close friends and performing for his family. He just loved to make people smile and claimed that making other people happy is what made life worth living. So why not make everyone as happy as possible during one of the most difficult and dark times of his life? With family and friends being the most important thing to Zach, he wrote a song entitled “Clouds” in which he says goodbye to the people closest to him. He put it up on Youtube so that everyone he loved could view it and listen to his beautiful lyrics. It has been six months since the video was posted and it has gotten 3.5 million views. Although this song he created was for a small group of people that surrounded him during this hard time, people from all around the world have watched this video and are able to look at Zach’s life as inspiration for the way they live their own. Zach was one of those people that others gravitated towards because he was so warm and happy all the time no matter what was going on in his life – he always found a way to smile. To him what was most important was making sure everyone he cared for was happy because ultimately, that is what made him happy. This story about such a courageous young man has inspired me to change the way I view life and handle certain situations. In the end what Zach did with his last few months of life is a model for the way everyone should live day to day. He taught people that being depressed and angry during hard times that you don’t have control over is one route to go, but living happily and surrounding yourself with positive people while continuing to do the things that you have always loved to do is the more fulfilling path to take. Everyone goes through difficult times, some that are harder to bear than others. But it doesn’t mean you should allow this to consume your life and overwhelm you. That is the easy option. The other option is one that involves staying positive and fighting through it – this is the harder, but more selfless and inspiring choice a person can make when going through a tough time. People might expect a person with a terminal illness like Zach to be miserable and scared, maybe bringing down those around him because of the raw reality of the situation. But instead millions of people look up to him because of the way he continued to make people smile despite unfortunate circumstances. At the end of his documentary he stated, “I want to be remembered as a kid who went down fighting…and didn’t really lose.” Zach went through life with a positive mindset and always seemed to find a way to smile. Because of this he ended his life undefeated, just the way he wanted everyone to remember him. http://www.petewiniarski.com/2013/05/22/finding-a-way-to-smile-2/