Life is for living

How would you live if today was your last?

Photo by Akshar Dave from Pexels

After months staying away from works of fiction, Adam Silvera brought me right back, reminding me why I even read them at all. They both die in the end by Adam Silvera could definitely get you guessing — correctly — what the story is about. Yes, the lead characters are on a journey to death.

There’s Mateo (18) who has lived a chunk of his years holed up in his home and his head. He has no one to miss him when he finally dies, save for his dad and best friend, Lidia. There’s Rufus (17), a teenager in foster care. Only four months after he witnesses his family’s death, he gets the call informing him of his incoming death.

For a book with a title telling so much already, I was not expecting much as I flipped the pages. Besides, they all die at the end, don’t they? The story weighs in on the ice breaker;

“What would you do if you knew you would die today?”

The entire story explores how Rufus and Mateo navigate their last day; trying to live as much and as long as possible before they finally kick the buckets that very day.

The story once again brought the realization that we sometimes don’t live, we just exist like Mateo did for unending days before his last day. And how we keep ourselves from snapping some shots simply because we feel assured of manifolds of tomorrow — but, what if we don’t have that tomorrow?

The hope and seeming assurance of the next day, week or year sometimes keeps us from doing things that we would otherwise have done if we thought we won’t see the next day. Many have certain wishes and dreams that dearly need to be fulfilled but, we set goals that see us pushing those wishes farther and farther into our future till we realize there’s no time for it anymore.

This story, regardless how its undertones of sadness, put before me the need to take more shots at life while we still can. It made me realize that the good acts (acts of kindness) we fear to do on some days actually make differences no matter how little.

Sadly, we won’t be around forever, and I’m sure many won’t want to live their last days with loads of regrets. For Pete’s sake, we should try to live more. Go into days with prospects of making it a terrific one (even if only in little ways). Go into days being one of the lights that scare away darkness. At the end of it all, kick your feet up and smile, knowing you’ve LIVED through that day, not just for yourself but for others.

Not everyone is lucky to know when life terminates. Why not live the days like they are the last, but not without hopes for the future. Who knows, you might just be a step closer to your dreams with each day lived.