When I attended university to become a nurse, I had to make a long journey by tram every morning. We were a few friends that travelled together to the centre of the city, a trip that took about 40 min. We had coffee in a thermos with us and took turns making coffee every morning; everyone had their own mug in their bag. It was fun to see the reaction of the people that came on to the tram that were greeted by the coffee aroma, their noses were really twitching. Since we went every weekday morning all week there was much time to talk, we discussed everything between heaven and Earth. During the trip, we passed a cemetery and over the entrance it wrote “Think about death”, we all agreed that it was an eerie statement and that it was totally backwards for us (we were all between 17-23 years old).
When someone dies, we are thinking of the life they had, what they meant to us and of the life that goes on. We all agreed that it should have been written “Think about life” instead.
The other day, this statement came back to my mind. I was very close to become a victim of an accident that probably would have extinguished my flame. A metal beam, 4.5 m in length, tumbled down in front of my feet; it all happened so fast I didn’t have time to react. Had it hit my head…..?
It made me reflect on life. I can honestly say that I have followed my own path, done what I wanted to and experienced very much regardless of what has been customary and what others have thought.
The thought of saving for future in case of bad times has not worked for me, but to experience, live, explore and enjoy has worked well. We don’t know how much time we have in this life, so why waste it on keeping life on hold?
Standing in front of the Pearly Gates and thinking: “Why didn’t I do this or that, I regret that I didn’t take the chance when it was offered or this is unfair,” is a frightening and depressing perspective for me.
“What will the neighbours, family or society think if I do this or that. No I can’t afford that now. Best to wait until I get older or I dare not,” are thoughts that prevent many from experiencing or fulfilling their dreams.
In a second, it might be all over and we’ve missed the chance of much joy and happiness. Certainly it is important to take responsibility and to contribute to society, but I think we also have a responsibility to take care of our lives and live it as fully as we can. It is more and more common now that people suffer from depression; it has almost become “normal”. I have thought a lot about why it has become like that.
When I was a child we had to create, explore and make our own adventures to keep us busy and entertained. We created and made most of our toys and activities ourselves. Difficulties were to be overcome. Today it is possible to purchase almost everything and I think that leads to passivity. You do not need to think for yourself, and that continues into adulthood. It is convenient and easy, but is it equally satisfying as creating something by yourself? Could it be that we need challenges in order to feel good and be happy? Creativity is a skill that should be encouraged throughout the whole life for everyone.
“Easy come easy go” is a saying that holds a lot of truth in my opinion. Things that you get too easily you don’t appreciate as much as if you had to work for it.
Take care of the time you have on Earth, live, enjoy and regret nothing.
