We all see the stories of the world we live in,
in the newspaper, the TV, and online.
We all just sympathize, thinking it could never happen;
we tell ourselves, “couldn’t happen to my family, no, not mine.”

We all cringe in heartache at the stories of the troubled and abused youth,
a child diagnosed, a robbery, a shooting, or a crashed bus.
But what no one thinks of is the ugly truth;
the notion that it could happen to any one of us.

We all hear the stories yet keep trudging through the day,
through, what most believe to be, our boring, mediocre lives.
We’re all just attempting to stay out of harms way;
one grand attempt to just be “another passerby.”

We all know the stories of people just like you and me,
did you think those innocent victims saw tragedy in their wake?
I believe we all must live life as though we would be headlines tomorrow, for all the world to see;
all the seconds and minutes and hours and days could be fantastic, the choice is ours to make.

We must see ourselves as stories of fantastic proportions and heights,
and we must see we are not “boring” or “mediocre” but all individually unique.
The ability to be outstanding is our own personal right;
your talents mustn’t be something you boast, but something you seek.

We are the stories of tragedy and of greatness,
and must make our own mark in this puzzle of a world in which we must stay.
We must make each moment last, give it worth, and make something of our courageousness;
most of all, we must remember that the stories are never that far away.