Two things many people fail to realize and fully accept are the spontaneity of life and the frailty of the human kind. Unexpected things can happen to us at any point in time and many of them come as a shock. Irrespective of whether you are one who takes full control of your daily activities and probably plans out how your day could go, crazy things can still happen.
Also on the topic of the frailty of humankind. “Supposedly”, we're the governors of earth and one of the highest, if not the highest, authorities on earth. Of course, we're superior to every other possible living thing that exists naturally in our ecosystem but in the blink of an eye, everything could end. Finish. Blackout.
I sat next to this man who looked like he had his head in the clouds. I'm great at reading demeanours and possibly detecting what type of mood a person is in, do I just figured the man had a lot on his mind. This man seemed to have been grieving previously but had passed the grieving stage and was in the “F*ck it! I'll take life as it comes” stage. Obviously, I do not like to bother such people because when I cannot do anything to alleviate their hurt, why bother making them relive a moment?
However, this man seemed in desperate need of listening ears and I'm always in a mood to listen, so he talked. For about ten minutes, he narrated a story about the day his life came crashing down.
Being a good trader, this man had enough money and even some to spare. Good thing was that he was generous so he always lent out cash to everyone who was in need. Due to his reputation, he got the green light to marry one of the most beautiful ladies in his locality and he readily hopped on this offer.
Six years into the marriage and two children later, his wife was invited to a wedding ceremony in their locality. Being a businessman, he told her to attend the wedding that he was going to join her immediately he got back from work and she did.
After a long day at work, he arrived at the location of the ceremony. Almost immediately after he arrived, it started raining heavily. Being an exhausted man who had his children's best interest at heart and who also wanted to rest after a long day, he asked his wife if they could return home and she said no.
By this time, the ceremony was over and nothing much was going on. Soon after, their six months old baby who had been crying even before the mother left for the ceremony, started crying again, profusely this time around. The mother tried all she could to tame the baby, but the baby wasn't having it.
This man on the other hand had grown agitated and tired of asking his wife to return home and since she wasn't budging, he decided to make use of the opportunity to grab something to eat. A few minutes after he stood up to grab a bite to eat, a group of people ran up to him; “your wife has been knocked down by a car” was the news they bore and this obviously wasn’t good news.
This occurred in an urban area with no healthcare facility and before she could be rushed to a facility capable of handling her case, she had kicked the bucket.
Now, this man who was growing agitated a few hours earlier couldn't help but wish that he had somehow handled the situation better. Maybe he should have dissuaded her from attending the wedding, maybe he should have acted more manly and ordered the wife home or maybe, he could have ignored his hunger and just stayed with his wife but either way, she was gone and his last moment with her wasn't a memorable nor pleasant one. He didn't even get the chance to say a proper goodbye.
I sympathized with the man narrating this story but I couldn't shake off the feeling that life is indeed fragile and living every day like it's our last is the best bet. Imagine planning to do something that makes you happy “tomorrow” not knowing that you may not get the chance to do that thing?
Living everyday like it's the last entails spontaneity and liberality, two attributes that aren't my strong suit but, I might as well work on these attributes starting today. We may not know when it all comes to an end, so why not live a more fulfilling life?
“Like I'm Going To Lose You” by Meghan Trainor captures the man’s narration properly. With the themes of love, loss and appreciation, the song talks about cherishing every waking moment with our loved ones because life can be really unpredictable.
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