When I was a teenager our house caught on fire. It was an old duplex that had faulty wiring and forensics chalked up to an electrical fire.
Now I'd never really had any faith in a higher power but this event changed that for me. I'd usually sleep with my bedroom door shut/locked and with just my underwear but the night the fire broke out I had left my door wide open and stayed fully clothed minus shoes. These were unusual things for me to do at the time. My bedroom was in the back of the house behind the kitchen, where the fire started. All I can remember was waking up to noises similar to fireworks, noticing the fire outside the room, and running to the front yelling at the top of my lungs like a coward. The duplex had not been provided a smoke detector upon moving in and that later won my family a law suit but it took years. We had lost everything overnight while my mother was at a bar. My grandmother and oldest sister sustained bad burns, especially my sister. Resulting in years of trips to Galviston, Tx to receive skin grafts. She is in college to be RN now but still wears long sleeves, even during the summer, to hide her scars. The event was devastating resulting in my sister's going to live with their father and me ending up with an aunt. My mother struggled long and hard to regain what bit of sanity she once had but it was difficult and she never fully recovered from the guilt of being away when she was needed most. Now this story might not jump off the page as positive but read between the lines.
We all survived, we had lost all material possessions and was lucky to be alive. We all had seen the face of death and lived to tell it. As a young boy my mind was incapable of comprehending what really happened that night. As I matured it seemed more and more to me that something, somewhere was watching over. The fire department said the fire had to have been going at least fifteen minutes before I was estimated to have been awaken. I was the first to have been stirred but I can't in good faith take responsibility for us all making it out alive. I neglected to make sure my grandma was awake and my sister ran to her instead of outside resulting in them both getting burned badly and having to be removed by fire department. My cowardice on that night still bothers me. People were hurt because I was a scared coward.
The silver lining here, is that we all had a fresh start. Having come so close to death really makes you appreciate what you have, trust me. Don't loose hope and always remember that there is a higher power. I truly believe that religion has perverted the concept of the creator as a means to control the masses.
Don't take for granted because the next day you might wake up without. Love people not things, possessions are replaceable. People once gone, never come back. Life is finite enjoy it and learn from it. Let the negative go and cling to the positive like lint to a cloth. Don't squander precious time on frivolous pursuits. Get involved with something that makes you happy and gives you those good feels.
That's what I did, I wanted a family. It took me until my thirties but I made it happen through sheer determination. If I can come from the crack infested ghetto of North Memphis, TN to finding my own happiness despite everything seemingly being in my way... then I can't fathom any reason anyone else can't find their own happiness. Stay well Smogon, Godspeed to you all.