measured by breaths

A term used to state that ones life consists of the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the mistakes and triumphs.

Ones life is measured by all of the things contained in it and for the entirety of ones existence.

When you face the end and look back on what you have done, who you let in, how you treated others and what impact you have made, however small... Will you die in peace?

She looked back and was grateful that she loved him as much as he would let her. Ones life is "measured by breaths we take, not the moments that take our breath away".