Referencing a romantic comedy in a topic like this would normally be weird.
But in the case of ‘Friends with Benefits’, the 2011 film starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake; it is necessary.
One of the scenes which truly stands out in this film is when Dylan’s father, who is suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s, tries to make his son see how life should be lived every day when you are lucky enough to be able to do it freely.
He says, “I’ll tell you something, that I wish I knew when I was your age. And I know you’ve heard it a million times -Life is short. But let me tell you something. What this…this…is teaching me; is that life is God damn short and you can’t waste a minute of it!”
In today’s world this has never been so evident.
We live such face-paced lifestyles that no longer are we always able to stop and just enjoy life whenever the chord strikes us. We have responsibilities of money, work, and everything else on our plates. We are not always aware of how fast time is passing us by until it is too late.
So many stories are heard because of the power of social media. It is what I love about Facebook and Twitter, because they force you to realise things. These platforms give us constant reminders of how lucky we actually are to have basic things some people would wish to have. Forget the new iPhone6…they want to be alive and healthy!
In the past few weeks I have been horrified by certain stories in the media about people not being so lucky. And while it makes me sick that such wonderful, brave people are given such hardship and suffering in their lives; I have to wonder why this happens.
In September, a 28 year old man named Kevin Adorno was planning to propose to his girlfriend after cycling through SIX states of America, from Maryland to Miami; where they were to be reunited. Stopping at McDonald’s for food in Vero Beach, Florida, he was on the phone with his girlfriend when he was stabbed to death by a homeless man as he sat on his bike in the parking lot.
This homeless man believed Kevin was on the phone organising to attack him simply because he looked at him before making the call.
This is just one of many incidents like this which happen everyday. But it doesn’t make it ok that good people ever have to suffer in moments like this…and worst of all be killed for it.
A few days ago, another story made the news, because of how confronting it really is to all of us.
Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old woman who lived in San Francisco, was told she had a brain tumor. She had only just gotten married.
The worse part about it was that initially, she was given 10 years to live. Then the tumor got bigger and her life expectancy became even less.
This woman had so much to look forward to, and so much that she was wanting to do in her life…and now it is all out of reach.
Moving to Portland, Oregon, she can choose to ‘die with dignity’ by taking prescribed medication to end her life without breaking the laws there, which she plans to do on November 1st.
Since her diagnosis, she has travelled to places she wanted to see. She is living her life. And she has one message to everyone who has time left to truly live:
“Seize the day. What’s important to you and what do you care about? What matters? Pursue THAT. Forget the rest.”
What a brave woman she is.
The most heartbreaking thing about both of these stories, is that I am 29 myself, and I know that although I feel old at times, I am still too young to be dealing with something as serious as death. People should be planning their lives at this age. Not their funerals.
I guess the message here is this: We should all be living the best life possible. Doing what we love, that gives us things to be passionate about in life. We owe it to ourselves to make the most of our lives.
We owe it to those who aren’t as lucky as us and don’t have a choice.
So, forget the dramas and the negativity. Life is far too short a time to be wasting it on anything other than positive energies.
I am determined to live the best life possible. One that makes me happy and content that if that’s all I get; well, it was EPIC! I travel, I currently live abroad, I started a website, I changed careers and do things which scare me. But at least I am actually living my life to gain my happiness.
And anytime I feel like life is not fair, or I have drawn the short end of the stick I will remember that scene in the film. I will remember Kevin and the life he never got to see play out.
But most of all, I will always remember Brittany Maynard and her bravery; and the words she shared about living life. Those words I will never forget.
Life is precious. Do what counts. Live for right now. Always be happy in your choices -and if you aren’t, DO something about it before it’s too late!
Because life is short.
And you can’t waste a minute of it.
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