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Original poster

What made you realise 'life is short'?

125 replies

luciferonearth · 29/05/2021 05:56

Just looking for a little bit of perspective. I stress about the day to day, but then think 'in 100 years from now we will all be in our graves, and none of this will matter.'

I find the finality of death a bit comforting in that way. I would hate to live forever but I think it's easy to feel like we will when we worry about the little things.

OP posts:

HerRoyalNotness · 29/05/2021 23:13

The last 7.5years I’ve lived somewhere I hate and we have been existing. It’s gone in the blink of an eye. I remember moving here quite clearly, unpacking, stressed as things weren’t as we expected but still hopeful. Then things went downhill, we watched our 2 week old die in the NICU and nothing has been the same and the years have flown.

My friend posted this a little while ago, and tbh it just pissed me right off. It comes from a position of privilege. The reality is the we, most of us, have to work and slog and raise our families and don’t get much help and it’s a juggernaut we can’t get off to enjoy our life Whether that is due to finances, time or other circumstances. That’s how life is set up and it’s shit. And before you know it, you don’t know where it’s gone

Grellbunt · 29/05/2021 23:14

@flapjackfairy

Oh goodness. So many sad stories that I am in tears now. I am late 50s and I am overwhelmed all the time with a general feeling of shock when I think of all the years that have slipped away. I tried to make the best of them and appreciate them I think but I feel I could've done more. I have had several bereavements in the last few years and it is sad to realise that you can never have back the wonderful days when all your loved ones were here with you. I struggle so much with being upbeat about the future and find myself constantly overwhelmed by nostalgia and a longing for the past. So this thread has made me realise I need to grasp the day and not waste time in regret or trying to recapture the past which has gone forever. Sending love to all those dealing with loss and illness .

@flapjackfairy you sound so sad... I hope you find some positivity... don't waste time dwelling on the past. Sending good vibes.

Dontstepinthecowpat · 29/05/2021 23:15

Work, most days seeing families grieve relatives who were fine the day/week/hour before.

Life is precious, don’t waste a minute. I don’t live the high life or achieve half the things I want too but I never waste a day feeling sorry for myself or wishing things were different. Contentment is the thing I am most appreciative of.

tunnocksreturns2019 · 29/05/2021 23:20

My brother dying aged 10; my husband being diagnosed with a terminal illness aged 33 when our youngest was only one, and dying aged 37.

I’ve never thought of life as long and have always trod between this life and eternity

jesusmaryjosephandtheweedonkey · 29/05/2021 23:25

No one in my family has lived past 50.
So we have always grabbed life by both hands!
Regret the things you did no the things you should of done, if you must have regrets

Lysianthus · 29/05/2021 23:25

Have just found out that a friend from way back, when we were carefree (!) and young, had a heart attack last week and died. 55. I’m inexplicably sad.

Thatsmycuppa · 29/05/2021 23:28

Moonface, can you please the name the book,I will try to look it up.

CharlotteRose90 · 29/05/2021 23:32

For me it was getting diagnosed with a rare disease at 28 and almost losing my life. My parents were told behind my back I had 3 months to live. Thankfully I’m fine now but I am more aware now that it can come back at any point and get me.

beeboop2018 · 29/05/2021 23:34

My mam dying suddenly. Gone in the blink of an eye... On a Monday night I said see you Wednesday. A couple of hours later we were rushing her to hospital. She was brain dead by wedneday. Can't get my head round the fragility of life.
Some times as I begin to nod off to sleep... Like 5 minutes ago... i jolt awake with the thoughts of if she was nodding off in front of the TV when the anerysm burst. How afraid she was as something was so seriously wrong....

OurChristmasMiracle · 29/05/2021 23:35

I lost a very close friend- he was literally like a brother. My mum looked after him every night after school. I was 8 when he passed and it has never left me.

He died from meningitis, he was literally in my kitchen laughing with me one day, and gone the next.

I’ve also lost both my parents to cancer and suffered with abnormal cervical cells as well as being hit by a car resulting in trauma surgery and a metal plate and 8 screws in my ankle.

I’m not scared of death, that is inevitable- what I am scared of is not having lived life before death comes for me. That I won’t have enjoyed every day. I am living for me and for those who have gone before, taken before they could experience all that the world holds.

TableFlowerss · 29/05/2021 23:40

Sadly I’ve known too many young people die before their time, including my own mother (I’d just finished college) the older I get the more people I know are passing away young (I’ve just turned 40)

It hits me for a few hours and I think, you just don’t know your day. In the same was this thread has got me thinking.

But then life starts getting stressful again then that appreciation for ‘life is short’ falls by the way. I get so worked up by things that just aren’t important, yet we could be killed in a crash next week...

This is Avery thought provoking thread.

I always remember when I bought my house the elderly couple next door came knocking to introduce themselves. Within 5 mins they were suggesting we cut down these 3 large trees that were in the garden for 40+ years....

Apparently the old man next door refused so they thought they’d try they’d luck with us - to no avail as we could’ve afford it with a young family. Anyway, they were moaning constantly about things for a couple of years, that were so menial.

Then he died. I wondered if she ever looked back and thought ‘what a waste of time moaning about some trees....’

Thatsmycuppa · 29/05/2021 23:47

Having lost a few closed ones to Covid makes me very sad. My best friends mother passed away suddenly few days back, I was talking to him, his father collapsed and had to be hospitalised with covid and was on oxygen support. He was just discharged from hospital but is pretty unwell. I guess we all have to eventually deal with whatever life throws at us.

wtfisgoingonhere21 · 29/05/2021 23:52

This pandemic has made me realise life is too short to slog it out for a job to earn enough to keep your head above water whilst forever feeling guilty I don't see my family or parents enough.

I'm just about to make changes to my working schedule with a long term plan to be around more to make time for everyone as well as myself.

Def care has gone out the window including diet/health etc and I want to be around for a long time yet so if I don't push myself now to make the changes it will never change.

In my line of work I deal with clients that are going through treatment for cancer and one of my lovely ladies age 43 has just been diagnosed for the second time In 2 years with a rare cancer and has got to go through yet more aggressive treatment for the next 6 months.

She took early retirement from work after the last time and has qualified in therapies to help people and have a more balanced lifestyle and now she's faced with the devil again.

I've had many clients over the years in similar circumstances however this lady for some reason has really really stopped me in my tracks and reminded me not to stall my future plans and health

Keepyourdistance000 · 29/05/2021 23:54

Being involved in a nasty multi vehicle rtc caused by the carelessness of another driver and walking away with only minor injuries and shock. Life really can change in an instant.

Looking back at the photos taken at the scene, it was nothing short of a miracle that no-one was seriously hurt or worse.

And in one of the photos there is a ray of light over the vehicle I was driving. I and my passengers - human and animals - were all protected by a higher power that day.

The other thing which made me realise life is short is being diagnosed with stage 2 hypertension last summer. My numbers were borderline stroke/heart attack level and if I hadn't been diagnosed I may not have been here today. It came as a huge wake up call. I went on medication, made some lifestyle changes, and my bp has been well within normal ranges ever since.

Babyroobs · 29/05/2021 23:56

Lost my mum too soon, she was looking after my then 4 year old then gone the next day. Lost lots of work colleagues and two friends to suicide, all below normal retirement age.
As others have said we slog away for years until retirement but many don't get there.

KurtWilde · 29/05/2021 23:57

Lost my dad very suddenly. My mum is a shell. She'd spent her entire adult life loving him, planning with him, and their comfortable future of retirement never happened. They'd had the house up for sale at the time abc they'd eye on a cottage by rye coast. And suddenly he was gone and all those plans went with him.

MissTrip82 · 30/05/2021 00:08

Nothing.

Life isn’t short. It’s the longest thing I’ll ever do.

I lost a parent and a sibling when young. It didn’t change my view.

Justlovedogs · 30/05/2021 00:10

No real single moment. My late DM and DF brought us up (me + two sisters) fully aware that life is short and you should make the most of it as you go. They both died aged 87, three years apart, and had no regrets about having not done anything they wanted to do. It rubs off on you when you live with that attitude around you.

LopsidedWombat · 30/05/2021 00:13

I almost died in childhood from a critical illness which went on to change the course of my life. Have experienced many ups and downs as a result but I am not quick to anger, don't fall out with people and enjoy being alive and the absurdity of it all. I've never experienced the phoenix rising from the ashes moment that you read about in books but it has made me very laid back and grateful for the simple things.

chipsandgin · 30/05/2021 00:21

Nearly dying in an accident at 21 & again during childbirth, both made me live for the moment & not sweat the small stuff (for the most part..not always easy!)

babbaloushka · 30/05/2021 00:22

I accidentally took too many paracetamol and was genuinely frantically afraid I might die of an abdominal haemorrhage as my mother did. Thankfully fine, but we are always so close to the other side.

purplebagladylovesgin · 30/05/2021 00:43

Dad died unexpectedly. All the things we had planned just evaporated.

Now I will wear my special occasion things, use that special soap, buy that lovely David Austin rose, spend the extra money on the children, take the children out of school for family time, and just make time for the things I'd always planned for.

Live it and share it whist your can. Even your Tomorrow may look very different.

LunaTheCat · 30/05/2021 00:48

My medical school training. I have always been a seize the day person. Then my lovely sister died. I am glad I seized the day with her.

RainbowMum11 · 30/05/2021 00:52

My daughter died at 2 days old.

PastMyBestBeforeDate · 30/05/2021 01:02

Squeaking through a significant medical event. It's left me with anxiety rather than a zest for living.

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