Gone Too Soon

Gone too soon is a bitter truth that hits hard when you have fond memories of the person to look back and smile upon. 

However inevitable it may be, death is something we are least prepared for. Rarely do we acknowledge death and prepare for it. It is far easier to know we are going to die one day. We all know it. We are destined to die the moment we are conceived. 

But it is one thing to know and totally another to realize and accept we are going to die. How many of us live as if we are going to die today. Will we be really at peace preparing for death? Why is it that we wait for someone to tell us we don't have much time to start valuing time? 

We always hear someone or other say, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” Most times we have a hearty laugh about it but ignore what it tells us. How many times do we ask ourselves if today is going to be the last day of our life, what is that we would do? 

Steve Jobs in his now-famous Standford Commencement address speaks about looking at himself in the mirror and asking, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

He further continues, "Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

Believe me, nobody really wants to die and we believe ourselves to be kind of immortals till the time death comes knocking and we start scampering to squeeze in all things on our bucket list if we had ever made one. It is strange that despite knowing we can't cheat it nor escape it, we still hope to do exactly that. 

Our time here is limited. And nothing ever is gone too soon, really. It's just that we are not prepared. Not prepared to accept the inevitable. We may believe that one day we are going to die but strangely enough, we are sure it's not going to be anytime soon. That's where we are wrong. For when death does come calling, we lament about the life we planned to live but never quite lived. And 'gone too soon' becomes an aberration.