Gone Too Soon

Please write a Will. If there's something you own that you love, leave instructions on who should have it after you are gone.

Most people wouldn't want to think about death. As it is, the world is already filled with so much desperation, why should someone want to make it more macabre. The truth is that whether we speak of it or not, it’s a reality that presses upon us all the more. We don’t have to force ourselves into thinking that life is permanent when it isn’t. Death will soon knock at our doors, just when we least expect it. It is going to take away people we love, and it is going to take us away from the people we love. And we may only end up realizing that we actually loved some people when they have left us already, when the well has run dry.

Man born of woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. Just when we start to have fun, the game’s over. Don’t let yourself begin playing the game when it’s too late already. The game goes on, while you spend hours away from your family working, in the name of building a better life for them; is there really a better life than being at their side? You can start playing right now, and laugh as much as you can, and smile as often as you can. Make other people smile as well, as often as you can. There's no need to be cast down, because soon you will be dead anyway. Why should you spend the little time you have numbing yourself with sadness?on to grudges?

Fall in love. Fall in love hard. Even I don't know what that really means, but in your short time on earth, make sure you fall in love. Don't half-love someone; love them with all that is in your power. In life we only just need to give, that’s how we are filled. Love people and don't expect them to love you back. If you are in love with someone, tell them, who knows for how long they will be around anyway, and what of yourself? Do you know for how long you will be? But don't do so on text, write them a letter, a handwritten one is way better, even if your handwriting is not so great, tell them that you have been really really thinking of them. Just make sure you mean what you say, that you are not lying, even to yourself. And even if they say no, surely that’s the least of our worries. Just because you cannot have what you want doesn't mean life will deny you other good things. Move on, continue loving, because the world needs more of that.

Don't be careless about how you live. Don't do drugs, life is already short as it is, why should you insist on shortening it all the more. Spend time with people who mean a lot to you, because in the end that's what truly matters. Do what you love with people you love. If you love hiking, go on a hike, if you enjoy cooking chapatis, do a cookout, if you love reading, read together, and if you enjoy writing, collaborate on a piece. Do what you love without shame, as long as it makes you feel alive, as long as it does not dull your senses or ruin your liver.

Tomorrow you may be crossing the road, and a car will hit you. You’ll be told you have cancer, with only some six months to live, you may be stung by a bee and then, you are no more. What if your apartment catches fire? what if the police shoot you during an anti-government demonstration while you are on your balcony? what if you are choked to death when you are having your breakfast? The possibilities of you exiting the world sooner rather than later are endless, more than you will ever think. And if tomorrow you will be dead, why not live your life today fully?

We all will be gone in a moment. Man is like grass, and the glory of a man is like the flower of grass, so if there is something you need to do, do it. This moment will be gone, and you are not even sure of the next. Don't burn yourself away with bitterness and fear. Fear of what people will think of you, fear that you will be disappointed. Face life with courage, face life with confidence, let yourself come alive. Don't lock yourself in your room playing video games all day, take a lady out, it doesn't have to be a date. Who said that every relationship between a man and a lady has to be romantic? Don't be afraid of liking her anyway, just be sincere and plain about it, and if it’s clear a relationship will not work, you don't have to force anything. If you enjoy each others company, why not go out and have fun, and talk about your life, about your dreams, about your fears, about your mistakes. Don't allow the awkwardness of some presupposed romance ruin a friendship.

Get someone a present. Get them a bookmark, a lollipop, a loaf of bread, a cup, a book, and send a note with it; in it, tell them that they are on your mind, and it doesn't have to have a sexual connotation. Why does everything always have to be sexual anyway. Be a great friend, because there are very few such people in the world. Be patient with difficult people. Be patient. Does all this mean there's no need to prepare for the future. Of course you need to make plans for tomorrow; the future is replete with uncertainties, and just like we have seen, one of those is our existence, and if you will not be around, it's fine, if you will be, then you have to make sure that you were in fact ready for that moment.

Is there something that needs to be done? Start the blog you have been talking about, maybe no one will read it, but someone may, and someone is way better than everyone. Alan Jacobs references a post by Austin Kleon on tumblr:

You have your number. It’s very dangerous to be liked by more people than should like you. It’s bad for them, and it’s bad for you. There’s gonna be a shock down the road for them, or you’re gonna dilute yourself and take yourself to a place where you can’t live with who you are. I think that you make an honest account of who you are and you live with the results. The results will be appropriate to who you are.

Ask her out. Send the email. Present your request. Just make sure that you are not putting off your life for tomorrow. Quit the bad habit today, because tomorrow you may need to quit something else entirely. Don't be worried about the future, don't be worried about death, in fact, rush towards it, because death is certainly coming for us, even if its through a suicide. You sure are going to die, you just don't know when. Don't fret yourself with much anxiety, who says you will be alive tomorrow anyway? You can never be so sure of life. Tomorrow comes with its own troubles, a whole load of them, why should you make today bleak by worrying so much?

Don't be angry at your mom, don't despise your dad. They probably weren’t the best, but you can't just change parents because you want to, and if you hoard such bitterness towards your parents in your heart, the day will come when you will lash it out on your own children; yes, they don't deserve to be hurt by you because your dad hurt you. Don't become a terrible mom because you had a terrible mom. The secret of not becoming like the people who hurt you is by loving them, judging them with way more grace and charity. Don't hate people, hate burns away your soul, and the day you try to love someone, you find only ashes. Marcus Aurelius: the greatest revenge is not to be like your enemy. How true.

Chloe Hope

says you need to write a Will; I agree. If there's something you own and you love, leave instructions on who should have it after you are gone. It could be a blazer, a water-bottle, or a book. Who should have it? your mom? your brother? your girlfriend? Don't live your life as if you will be around forever, because none of us will. I think the sooner you leave, the better. And when you are leaving, please try to do so with a smile.

Ecclesiastes 11:8

[8] So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. (ESV)

Or buy me coffee? If you can.

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