What if today is the last day of your life? Are you prepared enough?
Just a week ago, I attended two funerals. Such a small world. Who would have thought that in a matter of one week, two of the people I knew would be gone forever? They were not related to each other, if you were wondering. In fact, their funerals were very different from one another, which gave me a lot of realizations these past few days.
We, who are still very much alive, live our everyday life as if we are immortals. We always think of what we want to do, what we want to have, and what we want to be. Most of the times, we only think about ourselves--how to be beautiful, how to be popular, how to get so many likes in social media etc. We endlessly think and desire of so many things, forgetting that we are only here in this world temporarily. Some even do daring and dangerous activities, while others go further to the point of doing illegal acts, believing that "you only live once"--popularly known as YOLO to the Millenials. But, do we really live only once? Or is it just an excuse someone makes so he could do whatever he wants whether it is good or bad? Isn't it much better if we remind ourselves that we do not live only once, but rather, be thankful that we live everyday? That everyday we are given a chance to live our lives better than how we lived it yesterday? Yet, despite the chance that we may have each day, we should also not forget that life is short...short enough not to enjoy it and short enough to just waste it.
During the (first) funeral I attended last week, I was overwhelmed by the number of people who wanted to pay respect and show their deepest sympathy to the family of my friend. All I heard from them were good things about my breathless friend. They even reminisced and shared their happy memories with her. It was a funeral, yes, but it felt like a celebration of friendship, peace, love, and sisterhood. I was so happy for my friend, because even if she is already gone, there are so many people who still love her and will forever remember her in their hearts. That day was just a proof that she had been a great person when she was still alive. It was a farewell that really touched my heart and soul.
Unfortunately, it was a different story with regards to the (second) funeral I attended on the same week. It is so unbelievable and awkward to hear negative comments directly from the family of the departed. I could not even tell if their tears were due to loneliness or something else. I could not feel that they have lost a loved one. It was very saddening. It just didn't feel right at all.
I couldn't help but compare those two funerals. I asked myself, "how did they differ from each other when they were still alive?" "What did they do in the past to receive so much difference in the way people treated their deaths?"
Aside from the realization that life is indeed short, I also got the chance to assess my life or should I say how I am living my life now. Am I living as a good person? How confident am I knowing that my deeds will follow me? When my time is up, are there going to be a lot of people who would want to pay their respects and give their sympathy? Will they cry for me? Will they miss me? Am I physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually ready when my time comes?
We all know that each of us has his own time. But no one knows when that time will come. Let us just hope and pray that before our time ends, we have: done our purpose in life, let the people we love know that we love them, given our enemies (if there's any) our forgiveness, thanked the people who have been always there for us, said sorry to the people that we have hurt, and accepted and ready to meet our creator and savior.
How about you? How prepared are you?
*credits to http://www.emblombrennyfuneral.com and http://www.toursinenglish.com for the photos