[ARTICLE] Dead To The Living, Alive To The Dead

I was just thinking about life and death. Especially death, and the beautiful people he has taken away from me. I remember my closest friend in secondary school, the way death took her away slowly, unexpectedly. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

When I lost my dad. *sigh* God bless his soul. I felt so empty. Every thing seemed different. Like jeez, I felt dead.

Its funny how you have someone by your side now, and the next minute, he’s gone… Forever.

I cried buckets and drums, slept on dad’s bed, put my friend’s favourite song on repeat, and all that. It didn’t still bring anyone back. ONCE THEY ARE GONE, THEY’RE GONE!

While these people were alive, I made it obvious to them that I loved them, used every atom of me to show them that I cared. My point here: Whenever you are graced with the opportunity to show your family and friends love, please do. You never know what will happen the next minute. We take too many people for granted, we hurt them, we make them beg for our attention. These people deserve more from us. And once they’re gone, you’re left with tears, memories, imaginations of things that should have been done, hearts that should have been mended and what not.

Some people will never realize how important their loved ones are until they become a memory. If it were even supernaturally possible, please, by all means, ask the dead what life means…or rather, meant to him. Or better still, ask a person who merely escaped death by some seconds. Life to the dead is hope, a chance to make right all wrongs…a wish.

You don’t have to wait for them to leave, or worse, die and then live with regrets, do you ? I always tell my friends, ” Believe I understand you, act like I don’t”. I mean, people give so many unnecessary excuses because they believe their loved ones would understand. Its just wrong. Do the best you can, be responsible for other people’s happiness while you have the chance. It doesn’t have to be anything big. In fact, it’s the little things that count; a smile, a hug, surprises. Just let them know you acknowledge their existence. It’s so easy these days to become self absorbed. Everything’s always about what YOU want, what YOU need and how others make YOU feel. How about the people who DO make you feel good, who comfort you and hold you close when you’re down? There’s a saying that goes something like: ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’. You might take loved ones for granted because they’re always there, like air. Or water. We just can’t live without them! So treat your loved ones like they are the most precious things to you. As if you literally couldn’t live without them, so when the time comes to say goodbye, whether it is sudden or expected, you can look back on happy memories instead of moving forward with regret.

Believe me, life’s shorter than you think. Make it worthwhile. Show love, make someone smile.

Article Written By: Debola Aduwo (@MzOmalicha_)