Has work been less than ideal? Has life been giving you lemons? it’s not been easy for many with the Covid crisis. I know friends who have lost their jobs and a neighbor who unexpectedly got cancer. Life can be hard.
We probably all have a lot to complain about right now . However, all I feel today is gratitude to be alive. You can have this perspective too if you read this article. Holly was 27-year-old. She died of cancer and left behind final advice
I recommend reading her note in its entirety and perhaps bookmark and read it again when you have a crappy day or week. Here are the top 5 advice from her note that we often forget in the busyness of our everyday lives.
Advice 1: Don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t annoy other people
I just want people to stop worrying so much about the small, meaningless stresses in life and try to remember that we all have the same fate after it all so do what you can to make your time feel worthy and great, minus the bullshit. …
Those times you are whining about ridiculous things…, just think about someone who is really facing a problem. Be grateful for your minor issue and get over it. It’s okay to acknowledge that something is annoying but try not to carry on about it and negatively effect other people’s days.
We all can get caught up on small things. It’s human nature. Someone said something that offended us. We had an unproductive set of meetings. Someone cut us off in traffic. In the grand scheme of life and death, these are trivial. It’s important to not be caught in these negative emotions. It not only affects our own happiness but also those around us.
Advice 2: Stop judging yourself or others. Just spend time with family/friends and take care of your health
I’m watching my body waste away right before my eyes with nothing I can do about it and all I wish for now is that I could have just one more Birthday or Christmas with my family, or just one more day with my partner and dog. Just one more.
I hear people complaining about how terrible work is or about how hard it is to exercise – Be grateful you are physically able to. Work and exercise may seem like such trivial things … until your body doesn’t allow you to do either of them…
Appreciate your good health and functioning body- even if it isn’t your ideal size. Look after it and embrace how amazing it is. Move it and nourish it with fresh food. Don’t obsess over it.
Remember there are more aspects to good health than the physical body.. work just as hard on finding your mental, emotional and spiritual happiness too. That way you might realise just how insignificant and unimportant having this stupidly portrayed perfect social media body really is..
We often obsessed about the body we don’t have or the life we don’t have. It’s a great reminder from Holly how beautiful life is just the way it is. I also agree our emotional health is just as important as our physical health. If we have success but we are not happy, is all the success we achieved worth it?
Advice 3: Giving your time, your support to others is the biggest joy in life
Give, give, give. It is true that you gain more happiness doing things for others than doing them for yourself. I wish I did this more. …
It is a weird thing having money to spend at the end.. when you’re dying. It’s not a time you go out and buy material things that you usually would, like a new dress. It makes you think how silly it is that we think it is worth spending so much money on new clothes and ‘things’ in our lives.
Buy your friend something kind instead … Take them out for a meal, or better yet, cook them a meal. …Give/ buy them a plant, a massage or a candle and tell them you love them when you give it to them.
Material things can give us a fleeting moment of joy but doesn’t create lasting happiness. Experiences can be more lasting. I am learning more and more as I get older, genuine giving to others without expectations has some of the most lasting feeling of happiness and joy for myself.
Advice 4: If you are miserable, make a change now. Life is short
Also, remember if something is making you miserable, you do have the power to change it – in work or love or whatever it may be. Have the guts to change. You don’t know how much time you’ve got on this earth so don’t waste it being miserable. I know that is said all the time but it couldn’t be more true.
This seems like the hardest thing to do in life. When we don’t think we will die in the near future, we take the time we have for granted. It is more uncomfortable to change even if the current situation is not ideal. It is definitely easily to complain about it than to do something about it. The question to ask ourselves is if we only had a year to live, would I still do the same thing I am doing now? If not, why wait until close to death to change? Life is short.
We can make the change now. We at least will be alive a year from now no matter what happens. We may even be much happier after making the change.
Advice 5: Make a plan to donate blood regularly
if you can, do a good deed for humanity and start regularly donating blood. It will make you feel good with the added bonus of saving lives. I feel like it is something that is so overlooked considering every donation can save 3 lives! Blood donation … helped keep me alive for an extra year – a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends and dog
I am glad Holly highlighted this as I am not a regular blood donor. I am not against it. It’s just not in my routine to donate blood. I will make a plan to donate nearby and regularly. Saving 3 lives with one donation seems like an amazing gift to the world and fits well with my definition of success.
At the end of the day…
Holly said much more in her final note to the world. At the end of the day, I wanted to share it to provide you a different perspective. I hope reading these highlights or her entire note helps you
- See the beauty you already have in your life
- Appreciate the health you have today – even if you are ill, it’s not terminal
- Realize the time you have in this life is a gift – prioritize it on the things that truly matter to you
- Think about how you may want to give to others – when we focus on others vs ourselves, we are usually much happier.
Go out and breathe the fresh air, see the sunset, smell the flowers, and hug your love ones. At least we can do all of that today, tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future. Be grateful for life just the way it is. That gratefulness will give us the energy to make it even better in the future.
Your comments: I look forward to any questions and comments.
Your comments: Do you have an inner voice that tells you that you are not enough? Do you where it comes from and how to ignore it? I look forward to hearing from you.
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I am always in your corner.
Lei