Life

“The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.” ~ Pearl S. Buck

Did you ever wonder? Why people gather when others die? Why people gather when others are born? Why people feel they should? It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn’t just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance between being taken and being missed, lives are changed.
“All lives are connected. You can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind. It happens everyday. When lightning strikes a minute after you gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole. It is why we are drawn to babies…” He turned to the mourners. “And to funerals.”
After reading these two paragraphs in ‘the five people you meet in Heaven’ by Mitch Albom, it started me thinking of what this place we call the Earth is and what the purpose this thing we call life is all about. In other words, what on earth are we living for?
Sometimes people come into our lives and we know right away that they were meant to be there, they serve some sort of purpose, teaching us a lesson or helping us figure out who you are and who you want to become.
Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul.
The people you meet who affect your life and the successes and downfalls you experience create who you are, and even the bad experiences can be learned from, In fact, they are probably the poignant and important ones.
Without these small tests, whether they be events, illnesses or relationships, life would be like a smoothly paved straight flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless as in the following poem.

When life becomes too easy you never learn to live -
Never learn to struggle, never have to give –
When life is made too cosy a bore it soon becomes.
There is not much flavour in the unearned plums. Only that
which costs you an effort to possess - yields the satisfaction
of pride and hapiness...... when life becomes
too easy, a dead-end path it seems. No lovely peak to strive
for; no point in dreaming dreams - it's the daily challenge
that difficulty brings - teaches self-reliance in big and little things.

In my point of view, there are many people in this world -both young and old- who are still searching for the meaning of life, usually after something bad has happened. Many may ask, ‘why did this have to happen to me?’ but they fail to see that all lives are interconnected, and that all things happen for a reason.

Along life's road there will be sunshine and rain;
roses and thorns, laughter and pain
And 'cross the miles
You will face mountains so steep,
Deserts so long and valley so deep-
But you will never walk alone…

I have come to realize from my personal experience that during these times of need, a close friend who is able to listen and occasionally give advice is a rare gift and is very much appreciated needed. Sometimes, it is not so much the advice given but the mere presence of someone who is willing to listen to your troubles or to help discern a problem that touches the heart and heals the soul.

So then my friends, how many times have we wanted to affirm a friend but procrastinated? How many times did we want to say thank you but never did till too late? Or was afraid to? Even ashamed to? How many times have we held back our feelings and views of others whom we admire? Whom we look up to? Why not do it? Why not today? Why not now? Just a simple thank you to let your friend know that they influenced your life, that they made you a better person, that they helped you grow?

Here’s an example from “Tuesday’s with Morrie” by Mitch Albom of what Morrie Schwartz, a university professor did:

“When a colleague at Brandeis died suddenly of a heart attack, Morrie went to his funeral. He came hoem depressed.
“What a waste,” he said. “ All those people saying all those wonderful things, and Irv never got to hear any of it.”
Morrie had a better idea. He made some calls. He chose a date. And on a cold Saturday afternoon, he was joined in his home by a small group of friends and family for a “living funeral.” Each of them spoke and paid tribute to my old professor. Some cried. Some laughed. One woman read a poem: (I’m not gonna type the poem)
Morrie cried and laughed with them. And all the heartfelt things we never get to say to those we love, Morrie said that day. His “living funeral” was a rousing success.
Only Morrie wasn’t dead yet.

So my dear friends, here is the challenge. Give affirmation to those who deserve it, to those who have helped you along the course of life, in helping to discern a calling, your future. Tell your friends and family, people you have crossed paths with how much they mean to you - especially those who are leaving school after SPM or STPM. When will you next meet your friend?