Saturday, October 28, 2006

Fragility of Life

Life is the time phase that everyone of us have to go through. It is of utmost importance to all of us individuals who seek to ensure our life is what we want, and seek all means and ways to preserve it. When approached with the question of what is the most important to someone, it is very likely that someone would repond that it is being able to live that is most important. The average lifespan of a male in Singapore is 79 years, while that of a female here is 84 years. Living till the age of around 80 is indeed a long period of time, and yet people still complain that life is too short.

Life is precious. It is the voluntary ending of their lives when people who commit suicide that certainly irks me, as there are people out there who would be willing to switch their lives with these healthy individuals who give their lives to run away from trouble or despair. Having a healthy and working body is a blessing in itself, and one must never forget that every trouble can always be solved. It is only a matter of giving yourself another chance at life by correcting the mistakes you made.

Personally, I have had the misfortune of having to be there for a friend's funeral, something which I had never expected to happen that quickly. A handsome young man, still fresh in the prime of his life at the age of 18, doing well in his studies with straight A's for his subjects and a few Special Papers, with a girlfriend, good at sports, what could go wrong? Everything. The phone call came, and I was informed of his demise by jumping from a flat in Bedok. Fact was, he survived the impact, and only succumbed to his injuries in hospital. It was unfortunate as that moment of survival must have been a painful one for him, for the regret and the pain he managed to inflict on himself would have told him how stupid he was. For him, life was so meaningless. For us, life portrayed its fragility.

The Straits Times had two reports recently on what they termed as "sudden death". The first tells of Danil Shagimardanov, 16, a Broadrick Secondary School student, who was found dead in his bed by his family on his birthday when the family entered his room to wake him with a birthday song. He never woke (2006 ST, Thurs 26th Oct). Another relates of how a 35 year old docotr by the name of Dr Lai Siang Hui, a forensic pathologist at the Health Science Authority, died of an apparent seizure in the early hours of the morning (2006 ST, Sat 28th Oct). Both individuals were healthy people until their deaths, which was so sudden and unexpected, leaving behind confused and distraught family members and loved ones. Never did they expect such a tragedy to happen. Never did they expect life to be so fragile.

Life was cruel to these people, yet it serves as a timely reminder for us that our life is like a mirror. Who we are is what we reflect, for mirrors do not lie. If we do not take proper care of our life or treasure it, the mirror might fall and shatter.

Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery.

Today is a gift.

Treasure this gift and live life to its fullest while you can.

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