The Gift

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Today, I got in an Uber with a driver who was probably on FaceTime with someone because as I got into the car and buckled up, I heard a woman cough. He then coughed seconds later to cover it up. He wasn’t fooling anyone. I am not sure why he needed to.

Two Amish couples found each other at the airport randomly. The joy on their faces was incredible. Their large sets of blonde children, adorable. As I stared, I realized how rare it is to see a woman with five children in the city. I was also reminded of a church camp that made us wear long skirts and how freeing it was to not care about frivolous things like how one looked. How it felt to be whatever with being outwardly “different.” Life has a way of training you for the real stuff.

Today reminds me a bit of the first day of law school. A part of me feels like the days before my first summer internship in D.C. It has that same vibe of dreaming hard and witnessing the world around me with awe. I am small and amazed. I feel like the Amish kids watching the colorful fountain.

It’s not always easy to live the life you want to live. Sometimes, that simply means taking chances. It requires bravery when you have none; energy when you have none and a sprinkle of hope (sometimes, when you have none).

Sometimes, you are going in blind. I guess that is what they call it when they say you go by faith. You do it all knowing that God has something for you either at the end of it or along the way. And sometimes, the gift is in both.

We sometimes take these leaps, and we brace our feet and legs for impact, reminding ourselves that the key is always going with open hands. If our hands remain open to let go, then they are just as open to receive.