This April month seems like a strong reminder to me that life is so fragile but more importantly is, how prepared are we for this final moment on this earth.
Attending 3 funerals, and losing 3 people you know in just two weeks leaves a strong impact on me. It was a bit too much to bear really. Sadness in losing them is one, fear of this eventuality that will happen to me or my very closed ones is next, and anxiety is the other as in my Christian teaching it says that ‘God will come like a thief in the night, striking at the least unexpected moment’. So when will it be my turn?
Well, as much as we strengthen ourselves in all aspects of our well being to deal with death – be it courage, resilience, acceptance and letting go off attachments, facing death in our own home front is a totally different matter. In an eulogy by Anne Tee, (who’s also a coach who lost her youthful husband so suddenly), she told everyone there at the wake that ‘I often advised my friends to take consolation if someone dies from a sudden heart attack as it’s the easiest and best way to die’. But she admitted tearfully that when this same thing happened to her husband, she just couldn’t bear it. She now knows that there is no escape from sorrow when it comes to death. Hearing her account was a most revealing moment of what death can do to us.
I have been thinking very hard on how to deal with this inevitable fate of death. In a way we are all cornered, there’s no way out. So comes the coaching question, “What is the best of no best thing to do”? This got me to this conclusion that the most mitigating measures we can do are mainly 2. One is to never take our loved ones for granted and to treat them well like as if we are having them around us for the last time. Treat them well, be selfless to them. Two is to be always prepared for it both spiritually and emotionally. On the spiritual side, it is to be close to God in our prayers and deeds. Emotionally, it is to live purposefully, doing whatever we enjoy and not forgetting to leave something behind for others, called it, your footstep, or legacy or a just good memory.
So as long as we are still around, consider this living for the day as living on borrowed time that God is still giving us. The least we can do is to stay positive and happy but this won’t be enough if we forget to profusely thank and be grateful to Him for this bonus.
