“One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you always wanted. Do it now.” Paulo Coelho
Last week, I read five heartbreaking articles about people who lost their lives. I didn’t meet these people in person, but this sad news broke my heart and left me in tears. It made me question the meaning of life. We can lose it anytime, any moment
I am sure we lost more than five people last week. Here are the people that I’m aware of who said goodbye to this world. We lost a successful Turkish businessman, Mustafa Koc, at age 55 from heart-attack. We lost a Harvard professor, Clayton Christensen, at age 67 from cancer complications. We lost a successful businesswoman, Leila Janah, at age 37 from Epithelioid Sarcoma, a form of cancer. Also, we saw on TV that Kobe Bryant at age 41 and his daughter at age 13 were in a helicopter accident. They lost their lives along with nine other people.
These people were young, successful and talented. They had a positive impact and influence on many people’s lives. These people had families, hopes, and plans, but they lost their lives too soon.
These unfortunate events made me think that tomorrow is not promised to anyone. In other words, we can lose our lives, or we can lose our loved ones any time, at any moment. However, knowing is not half of the battle. Even though we all are aware of this possibility, most of us still assume that it won’t happen to us. So, we continue to live a hectic life. We still must go to work, meet deadlines, and take care of our families. As a result, we do not even want to think about this unpleasant inevitable event.
Paulo Coelho explains my point very well, “One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you always wanted. Do it now.” So, how can we find a balance between our responsibilities, social pressure, and the things we wish we were doing? In other words, how can we have a more meaningful life while dealing with many meaningless things? There should be a way to create a nice work-life balance, so we don’t wish for weekends and vacations. Also, we should not wait for our retirement for the things we wanted to do.
Since death is inevitable, the only thing we could do is try to live our life fully. According to the course I am taking, ‘The science of well-being’, the problem is we compare ourselves with others and look for happiness in the wrong places. At least scientifically there are simple things that you can add your daily routine and feel happier, like gratitude, social connection, meditation, and exercise. Also, here are some ideas that come to my mind that I am hoping to apply to my life in my limited time in this world.
Learn to enjoy the moment, do not dwell on past mistakes, everything is an experience
Let go of all the mistakes and unpleasant experiences, reset your mind daily
Focus on what matters the most in your life, reconnect with family and friends
Spend time with the people who matter
Be grateful for what you have
Learn from your experiences and create better lives for yourselves
Do things you love
Do not compare yourself with anyone
Exercise more, sleep better, eat good food.
Celebrate more, do not rush to the next item on your list
Be kind to yourself and others
We will be happy when we have inner peace. My husband’s and my goal are living our best life, and also investing in our future smartly. If our times come earlier, at least we can feel relief knowing that we have done our best and lived fully.
I’m a Project Manager with a deep passion for both professional and personal growth. Designing and building the next generation of vehicles is incredibly rewarding, but it comes with its challenges—especially for someone as emotionally invested as I am!