Do you seize the day?

One of my former schoolfellows died last weekend.  He was involved in a car accident, he was just the passenger and the driver probably drove too fast, but there is no proof yet.

He used to be in the same form I was, but he didn’t pass the final exams last year, so he just graduated from school three months ago. He was 19 years old.
I didn’t know him well, I am not even sure whether I ever spoke to him, as we were a lot of pupils and he was not among my friends.

However, I was shocked. 

My sincere condolences go to his family and friends.
I can’t imagine how they feel.
 

We all know life is short; I know it. I knew that those things happen, I know young people are dying all the time.
But this made me really realize it. Life can be over any time. One minute you’re planning your future, you’re planning how to move to your very first own apartment, to begin with your studies and the next minute you’re just dead. It’s scaring.

It seems silly that we are worrying about all those little everyday things all the time. We are getting upset because of little details, things that don’t matter. We are wasting our time complaining about the most unimportant things while life is in fact a precious gift.

You are annoyed at something? Think about whether this is really so important. Is this really worth it? Somewhere in this world there is someone that just lost their child or their best friend. Now think about it again.  

A good friend of mine once told me that whenever she is annoyed at something she thinks about how this will affect her in two or three years and if the answer is that it won’t at all, it’s just not worth it. I think this is the right approach.

So, seize the day.

I know this is not possible every day, in fact I don’t really know how to do it, as we all have so many duties. We have to go work, we can’t just stay at home because we would like to do something else to seize the day. But I think there is always a way.

There are a lot of sayings that try to convince us that we should live every day as if it was our last one, because some day it will indeed be the last one. I totally agree with the idea of that. But I think it is impossible to do that every day. If this was your last day, would you really spend it at work and maybe clean your house and do the laundry when you are at home? I don’t think so, but yet you have to do it. We can’t just neglect all of our obligations because we would like to have fun instead. But you can attend to your duties and enjoy life at the same time. You can try to focus on everything good that happens in your life, you can appreciate all those things. And you can try to change the things you are not happy about.

Did you ever realize that all those little things you are complaining about are actually not that bad at all? (By the way, I am no exception, this also addresses me.)

Do you have your own way to live your life to the fullest? Is there something you love doing that you do every day? Is there something you really enjoy doing and do you do it often enough? Is there something you always wanted to do but haven’t so far?
Do you really enjoy every day, or better still, every minute of your life?

Do you seize the day?

Despite of all the problems you might face and all the duties you have, take a minute and think about how valuable life is, think about the good things you have.

And don’t forget to tell your loved ones to tell them you love them from time to time.

Life is so short, don’t throw it away. Regardless of your age, it could be over any time. Try to focus on the good things, no matter how small they are.

Quote of the week #1

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Shakespeare – Macbeth

This is what Macbeth says when he hears about the death of his wife.

Life is meaningless. We all struggle so hard, but at the end, we all die. And a few decades later nobody will remember you. Unless you’re a famous rock star or something like that. So why do we even work so hard, why do we take such pains in life? I hope that every one of you has his own individual answer to that.

Sometimes, while having a bad day or week, I share Macbeth’s opinion. I wish I could leave something behind, so that people will remember me. It scares me to know that one day I will be gone and forgotten. What is the meaning of my life then?  But then again, I would have to ask myself, why is anybody living? Is life just about the process of living? I mean, animals don’t seem to think about these questions, they just try to survive. So maybe I shouldn’t think too much about this, because nobody will ever be able to give me the utterly truth.