life is precious

Humans have this tendency to want to make their lives difficult for themselves. In fact, I am the champion of doing this. I tend to over-think and do what I think is smart, as opposed to what will actually make me happy.

For those of you who don't know, I am currently studying at the University of Melbourne, and I have been living a peaceful life here for the past two years. Today, a tragedy occurred on the street where my beloved institution is located, and I'm going to give you a play-by-play account of how I came to learn about what happened.

My friend and I had left the campus and were proceeding to walk towards the central business district, when we noticed a police car struggling to race downwards. After another block or so, we saw that that an entire intersection along the street had been barricaded. We realized that something terribly bad must have happened, and at that precise moment I received a text that answered our questions: 'Wall collapsed on Swanston Street. 2 people killed.'

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/teenage-victims-of-wall-collapse-were-in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time/story-e6frf7kx-1226608727684

It's hard to believe that the street that leads up to Australia's top university is now tainted with the tragic memory of the two people who lost their lives through something as accidental as the collapse of a wall. However, the horrendous incident also led to a woman being grievously injured. For all of you who are reading this, let us pray that she pulls through and survives. Let us also pray for the two people who were taken away, and for the families and friends who now have to grieve from the horrible tragedy.

When we wake up in the morning, we don't think that our siblings, parents or friends are going to be hurt by a freak accident. Even if we do vaguely speak about how today or tomorrow could be our last, what do we ever really do about it? In my case, I have the tendency to talk about how life is short and precious, and then I still allow myself to be affected by the smallest and stupidest things. What is even worse is that I sometimes actively deny myself of what truly makes me happy, because of reasons that usually revolve around my brain or ego. I am a typical human being, and I admit that sometimes I need to shelve my pride. I know that I am not the only one here.

As people, we end up being easily upset and dissatisfied, and sadly I find that we are always looking for reasons not to follow our hearts. The unfortunate thing is that most of us will never pull out of this mentality until something bad actually happens to wake us up. A common occurrence is that we might go through one day of being completely happy, and then the next thing we know, we're back to resuming our previous, redundant patterns. We just don't really realize the depth of how short life actually is.

I am here today to pose a challenge to myself, and to you. I want us to face the fact that life is bloody unpredictable. It is wild, painful and passionate. It is precious, thrilling and beautiful. It is short. Not to state the obvious, but you seriously will never know what is going to happen. Make it a point to ask yourself this: 'If today was my last day on this planet, am I doing what I would want to be doing?' Let us stop making ourselves unhappy. Let us realize how many good things we have, and quit all the stupid habits that blind us from being grateful. Maybe if we all start living a little bit more for ourselves, we would stop being so dissatisfied. Tell the people you love that you care about them. Live in such a way that your life becomes so fulfilled and devoid of any possible regrets, because time is precious and it is slipping away. I dare you to come with me on this challenge, because we owe it to ourselves to make the rest of our lives the best of our lives.