大象传媒

There鈥檚 a lovely, quirky song by Tom Rosenthal called 鈥業f We All Die Tomorrow鈥� 鈥� which isn鈥檛 as morbid as it sounds. It has the funny line, 鈥業f we all die tomorrow it鈥檚 sad in a way, but hey you have a parking ticket that you won鈥檛 have to pay.鈥橧n fact, the song鈥檚 not really about death at all; it鈥檚 about living without regret. It鈥檚 saying, get on and say or do the things you may one day regret not saying or doing 鈥� also, don鈥檛 reserve the fun stuff in life for a later time. 鈥業f we all die tomorrow鈥� the song says, 鈥榯hen I鈥檓 dressing up, like that episode of Friends where Joey wore all his best stuff.鈥櫶�

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Which reminds me of a funeral I took where the daughters of the deceased told me how their mother Josephine had an 鈥榚piphany鈥� in her mid-sixties and decided to wear her 鈥榩osh鈥� dresses every day until they wore out. 鈥榃hat鈥檚 the use of leaving them in the wardrobe鈥�, she told them. You鈥檒l only鈥� take them to the charity shop when I鈥檓 gone 鈥� and then someone else will get to wear them!鈥� Good shout, Josephine, I say! And I confess, I myself have a beloved suit which I wish I鈥檇 worn out long ago instead of now hoping I鈥檒l one day fit back into it. Life is for living, surely, not for holding in reserve for another time.听

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The author, Bronnie Ware spent years working in palliative care and wrote about the top regrets people voiced during their final weeks in life. Some are predictable 鈥� 鈥業 wish I hadn鈥檛 worked so hard鈥�, 鈥業 wish I鈥檇 stayed in touch with friends.鈥� But the one that haunts me (which apparently came up a lot) is, 鈥業 wish I鈥檇 let myself be happier.鈥� There are lots of things in life that tug us into a less happy outlook 鈥� responsibilities, disappointments, stuff in the news etc 鈥� but people like Josephine remind me to seize the day, to live now instead of holding back for the future. I don鈥檛 believe in a po-faced religion. I believe in the spiritual practice of laughter, play and silliness. And I have no intention of regretting that I didn鈥檛 practice them more.