Death takes a friend

Recently, I lost another friend to terminal illness. Death comes these days on swift wings. Earlier this year, a former boss of mine also lost his battle with cancer. He died at 61. My former office colleague died at the age of 51.
It is true to some degree what some people are saying. They are saying that people are dying at younger ages these days. Is it because they pile pressure upon themselves.
Actually, very few people like to discuss the subject of death. Why be so morbid, they would say. It is as if, none of us really dies. I mean if you say a person has passed away, that doesn't mean he's still around.
What's the difference between "died" and "passed away". Whatever term you use, it doesn't change the fact that his lifespan has ended.
We all know Death will be knocking on our doors one of these days, so why wait for it with great anxiety?
I sometimes tell friends that I learn more about Death then from people who think they can outlive others. What's so great about living up to 120? By then, most of your friends are dead and gone.
Children have parents who live up to a ripe old age, are often overheard grumbling that it is becoming an increasing burden to maintain an aged parent or two. Asians normally just bring their aged parents under their roof until it's time for time to die a natural death.

Sometimes, I tell others and myself: "Have we learnt nothing from death?" We are born, we study, we work, we marry and then we die." Surely, life is more than all these.
Well true. Those who live life to the fullest know life is slipping away from them by the minute but they are often too busy to notice. It's fine to live up to 200 years old, provided there's a divine mission in there somewhere.

I have heard someone grumbled once: "I am losing more and more of my friends to death and old age." My reply was "make new friends." Actually, if we can live life as if we will die tomorrow, we will have truly live.
Unfortunately, many of us try our level best to beat Father Time and the man with the hood and sickle. It's when we try too hard to extend our longevity that we lose sight of life's objectives.

Allow me to put it in simpler terms: if you are too preoccupied with eating vitamin supplements and dieting, you will have no time to have fun with your family, go fishing, watching great movies or just plain reading marvellous books.

Every time, a friend of mine dies, a relative checks out of Planet Earth, or just hops on to that one-way celestial flight 101, I ask myself: "So now what have you been doing to make your life and other people's lives better and happier?"
You will be surprised at what I found out. I actually find out that I have been neglecting doing some of the more meaningful things in life. And what are these?
Would you believe taking an early morning walk, breathing in the fresh air and listening to the magpies sing in the trees a great pastime? Or, riding a motorcycle with no special purpose in mind other than feeling the cool wind against your cheeks, another great thing to do?
Well, these are really fun things to do. A friend of mine just stopped by at my desk about a minute ago and said something about making money. I told him, one doesn't have to be rich to be happy. He said something about not many people are in the state of zen.
Actually, we don't have to take the "long route" but if we just simplify our lives and cut down on unnecessary chores, we will carry far less burden on our shoulders.
When you tell some people this, they may inadvertently think you are preaching to them. And yet there are people who actually saunter up to your house or living room and want a conversation about life and its priorities.
I have spent a number of decades on earth. I am no genius. I am no philosopher but there are some things I know from other people's experiences. Surprise of surprises, I learn a lot when I hear or read about the death of colleagues, relatives and others.
What's so terrifying about death? People think of death in the wrong terms. They think when they die, they will have not spent enough of money to enjoy themselves to the fullest. They believe that if they can't live an extra 10 years, they have not fulfilled their destiny. They are firmly convinced that if they have not visited the 10 most visited holiday resorts around the world, they would have failed as human beings.

Pity them? No. Just lead a useful, productive life, and you will know the true meaning of personal fulfilment. The happiness that you generate for others will be the happiness given unto you. The love that you give and share with others is the love that will surround your life.

When people ask me what is the secret of true happiness, I tell them to look at the simple things in life. What are these simple things? Well, for a start, family. If you have a happy family and much of the happiness under your roof comes from your kindness and compassion and selfless acts of charity, then you would be considered to have seen the brighter side of simplicity.

The other simple thing is food. Do not try to eat everything on the table. You only have one mouth and one stomach. When you have had enough, please stop. That's not rocket science. That's commonsense.

If you can't visit Barbados this year, try not to cry yourself to sleep. Take a drive to a small town, sit in a rundown coffeeshop and make conversation with strangers, you may find it being more beneficial than sunbathing with strangers who really don't want to talk to you at all.

Again, we come back to the subject of life and death. If you don't have a stretch limousine, don't be blue. Billions of people on earth don't have stretch limos. Big cars don't bring happiness, they just take up more parking space and become a target for car thieves.

When you are trying too hard to earn an extra million or two, stop and ponder over the fact that God may call you home early tomorrow morning. Then, where will all your earthly possessions take you?

You leave them all behind, you dope! You take nothing with you. You take with you the intangibles, like love, memories, kindness, prayers and sincerity. All these that are given freely by you, will in turn be freely be given unto you.

The gates of heaven are only open to those who have no earthly baggage. God's house only admits the things that he recognises. The peace, harmony and happiness that you have created or generated while you were on earth will be accounted for in the treasury of heaven.

All that is done in His good name will be checked in at heaven's gate. Death is the final arbiter of your time on earth. Being good at making money on earth simply means just that - you are only good for making money on earth. Heaven wants no part of that because money is not legal tender in heaven.

Next time, you come face to face with Death, stare at him straight in the face, he may be trying to tell you something.