Life is a gift, a precious one that should be cherished by every existing being. One is born and their story begins, for how long nobody knows, that is how sacred life is. It is all like a movie and in every life one is the main character of their movie. Along the passage of life, it's like a song, high notes and low notes. There are good seasons and bad seasons and in all of it the humankind has learnt to survive and exist.
The sad thing is at the end of that movie the main character never escapes death, and regardless of how good or bad they were in life, they eventually die. It's painful when we lose a loved one whether young or old depending on how much impact they had on our lives. People die at different ages, some are short lived and some long lived. Surely nobody wants to die if it could be avoided, which is why we fight to survive everyday by being conscious of what we eat, how we live, and more. There is much pain when a life is lost young. People say there was still so much potential for great life ahead. When an older person dies at old age there is some sort of acceptance and acknowledgement of death, which seems natural.
Watching a body of a young man being laid to rest at a graveside, so many disturbing questions ran in my mind. With a cloud of tears in my eyes, I watched his old father struggling to come to terms with his son's departure. It was sudden, too early, too soon, never easy to accept and understand. The old man's hopes of an heir taking over from him when he retires or dies were immediately shattered. As a father he had worked all his life to leave something meaningful for his only son. He had looked at his son with pride and joy that his name will be carried on. However, life like a movie had taken a twist in a different direction, the young man's life had departed earlier than the father. At only thirty-two the young man had played his life-movie to an end. Such is life; high notes - low notes and the survivors carry on with the journey. If only he had not gone out with friends that night, he could have avoided the accident that injured him to death, these were thoughts in everyone's mind, who loved the young man. No matter how much we wish a movie had not ended in a certain way, it still comes to an end as designed by the producer. In as much as with life only the creator knows.
Then today seeing an older person who has been blessed with long life, I wonder if dying young or dying older means anything. It all seems vanity. A man who lived long will eventually die with more scars to his soul than the man who died young. As we grow older, we are grateful for the gift of life, however, we should in the same way ask for grace to overcome the pain and sorrow that comes with it. We start seeing new life being born; great, but also close ones dying, our friends, children, grandchildren, and spouses may go before us. We are left to deal with the joys and hurts of life until the day our own life-movie also comes to an end.
Regardless of time coming to an end, there is need to celebrate life, make the best memories to be cherished when we pass on. It is rewarding to embrace and be kind to the next person because we never know when the movie they are playing is going to end. Oh! And teach the young ones one or two valuable things we have learnt in our own life experiences; who knows it may prolong their dear life.
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