Your Second Life
I told myself, Malala, you have already faced death. This is your second life. Don't be afraid – if you are afraid, you can't move forward.
In October 2012, Taliban gunmen shot fifteen-year-old Malala on her school bus in Pakistan's Swat Valley, and she woke weeks later in a hospital in Birmingham, England, unable to speak or fully move. In her memoir, she describes that waking as the start of a second life, one she refused to spend in fear. Rather than dwell on what she lost, she chose to see her survival itself as something given back to her, a debt to be used well. It is a reminder that gratitude often starts with simply noticing we are still here to act.
Reflection
Malala describes surviving as a second life she chose to use well. What is something I still have today that I almost lost?