It really is true that in England when the sun shines the whole place seems to come alive. l was watching this beautiful butterfly today busying itself amongst the purple flowers and it made me want to write about how precious life is.
The other night I watched the movie ‘Veronika Decides to Die’, based on the book by Paulo Coelho (well known author of the Alchemist). Initially it seems like a very sad movie about a girl who can’t see the point of going through the motions of life. As she describes it – you get married, then after you have had kids your husband has an affair because you are too tired and busy being a mother and you wish you could kill him (and his mistress), but then you realise that life on your own would be worse and so you put up with his behaviour (because he will do it again) and just go through the motions of life without feeling much. She overdoses but doesn’t succeed and so after being in a coma for a week finds herself in a psychiatric hospital. She is told she has done permanent damage to her heart and will die at any stage from a heart attack.
I wont tell you what happens but she yearns to see the sea, watch the sun setting and to hug her mother. In her case, these are all things that are freely available to her on regular basis. So – I am curious as to why it is more often than not that we only start to really live and see the magic in the simple things when we are faced with death. Why is that?
Every day is another day closer to our final one and yet how many of us embrace each day from the perspective that we have one day less left to live? No matter who we are or how healthy we might be today, we just never know when our last day will arrive.
I have a very close friend fighting cancer and he said to me ‘ I feel like one of the lucky ones as I now see the magic in each and every moment, no matter how small and insignificant it might seem’.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”- Mark Twain
Don’t wait to be faced with death before you start to see the magic all around you.
It is interesting that the things Veronika wishes to do most are such simple things, visit the ocean, hug her mother and watch the sunset. We all have such busy lives that a lot of the time these simple things pass us by. Many of us fail to see the beauty all around us each and every day. We worry that we are not successful enough or rich enough or beautiful enough or that we haven’t travelled enough, when all the riches we really need are around us all the time – the people and pets we love, the security of our home be it grand or modest and the beauty of nature. Next time you feel discontent with your life, stop comparing it to other peoples, take some deep breaths, slow down your body and mind, and take a really good look around you and be aware of the birdsong, you’ll be amazed what you see and hear. p.s Hilbre I like your articles, you should be a writer…..