Whether we want it or not, the blood sweat and tears, the ups and downs, the toll that life takes on our body inevitably runs its course and the clock stops ticking.

This year humanity has lost many of their loved ones, some close relatives, others more prominent figures in culture, some through accidents, violence, age or the virus.

However, this isn’t an article about what happens after death nor is it what you should do to grieve in the wake of death. These actions are respective to each individual - cry or laugh, celebrate or mourn, whichever brings comfort for you.

Instead, this piece about what we can do in life to achieve our greatest potentials. Death can bring about a beautiful moment of clarity where you see through all the clutter and truly make sense of what we really want to achieve from our lives.

Time

Throughout our daily routines, we are trying to optimise our time and yet it always seems to get away from us. Before we know it death will be knocking on our door and we will be left wondering where our lives vanished…

Don’t live your life at the expense of another day, if you see something that you want to attain, strive for it!

Holding yourself back to say, I'll try tomorrow is an excuse that slips into our subconscious too easily. When it's all said and done, and you look back at the journey of life you’ve been on, don’t you want to think

‘I didn't leave anything left in the tank’.

People

“People come and go but the best stay”.

It’s an idealised outlook on the irrationality of humans. Individuals do come and go and some of the best will move on. But if death teaches us anything it's that we take each other for granted on an immeasurable scale. Friends, family or even acquaintances that we’ve just met are all overlooked in some way or form.

But when they pass we’ll ponder about the time we wish we could have had with them, the things we could have, no, should have, told them. Give others credit where credit is due, and when they surpass all your expectations and pull those miracle moments out of the hat, make certain you give them their roses.

Having been away from my family and friends for a significant amount of time, on the other side of the world, I understand now that every call, text, snap, voice-note I send them could be my last and their last. Who knows what could happen in the time it takes us to converse again. So I make sure to give myself wholly to the dialogue in the time I have with them.

Joy

We grace this earth for a finite period. A time too fleeting to be bogged down by emotional baggage and societal life scripts that we carry, when sustained for too long we unintentionally inflict our anger on others, ultimately hurting them and ourselves in the process Who wants to live a life full of anger, it’s so physically, mentally draining.

Next time you see a stranger shoot them a smile. Next time you see your friend give them a hug. When you see your loved ones give them a kiss. Complete one kind act for others, the sense of fulfilment and joy one receives as you watch a face of curiosity turn to joy as they open a present or thank you profusely for merely dropping by to see them, provides you with an unmatched sense of warmth within. A feeling that transcends time itself.

Learn

The phrase ignorance is bliss, is not one to live life by. To live life in ignorance is to be blind to the joys of knowledge but to be ignorant with a desire to learn is a power that many refuse to wield. Soak up education from everything you do, consume and use it to your advantage to explore how to become a better human. It might be through talking to people, watching shows, listening to music. This mindset provides a phenomenal outlook on life that when compounded over decades will allow you to look back without regrets.

If there was only one thing that I could ask you the reader to remember, it would be to invest in the importance of moments. To savour the taste of your triumphs and your defeats. Don’t swallow the moment whole without digesting what is actually happening in your life. Celebrate the trials and tribulations, and do not let oneself wander into that lonely night. Rage, to extract the most from your life.

What do you want to achieve from your life? Let me know in the comments or drop me a message on any of the following social networks. I would love to hear from you! — Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, Youtube.