The “life is too short”-bus

…Life is too short.  Way too short.  I have been wanting to write about this since New Year`s Eve, because it was right then that I was hit by the realization that it was exactly this year, 25 years ago, that my mom died at the young age of 55.  Why is that significant to me?  Because I turn 55 this year, and I have pledged to give 2021 my best shot ever and devote my 2021 to her, Aletta Gertruida Burger.  Lettie. My mom, my role model, my best friend.

The past few weeks we have mourned the deaths of so many loved and well-known members of our community – since last week Bettie and Francois Lotz, Streicher Cilliers, Klakkie, Otillia, Carel Jacobs,  Iom Marais, Herman Roodt and many more have lost their lives.  Not all of those who have passed away were victims of the global pandemic, but still, we are at a loss for words…I cannot imagine the heartbreak that those families are all going through – losing a child, losing both parents. It`s unimaginable.

Klakkie, beautiful Clarissa Joubert, was only 19.  Otillia Swart was a mere 37-years old.  Whether we wanted to or not, we were once again reminded that life is fleeting and fickle, and that no one, not me, or you or anyone we know, have another day, let alone another second promised to us.

I have read the most beautiful testimonies on social media about all the above people, and it`s just crazy how the pandemic has even changed the ways in which we are allowed to mourn the dead.  No more spontaneous hugs at large funerals or a last few rose petals in a deep grave…

The brilliant American author, Pat Conroy, who died of pancreatic cancer five years ago once said: “Why do they not teach you that time is a finger snap and an eye blink, and that you should not allow a moment to pass you by without taking joyous, ecstatic note of it, not wasting a single moment of its swift, breakneck circuit?”

When I was a kid, I could never understand why grown-ups complain about life`s finiteness.  Then I HAD kids, and it began to make more sense.  Having kids showed me how to convert a continuous quantity, time, into discrete quantities.  Like, you only get 52 weekends with your 2-year-old.  If Christmas-as-magic lasts from say ages 3 to 10, you only get to watch your child experience it 8 times.  You only have one opportunity to celebrate their 16th-birthday party at the lovely Tolderia resort, and once they are students, you only get to see them about five times per year.  Of course, Covid has turned this last statistic right onto its head and having our kids at home has been about the only nice thing bought about by the pandemic.

And, of course, teaching us how short life really is.  Emphasizing that we will indeed not really live forever.  Before 2020 we put off our life goals because we all assumed that we would have another year.  We didn`t tell our loved ones how much we love them often enough because we assumed there would always be tomorrow.  Now we think differently.  Or do we…?

Have we really started to live life to its fullest?  Have we allowed life`s shortness to take us by surprise and have we cultivated a habit of impatience about the things we most want to do?  We should all ask ourselves that question, you know.  Because life can change in an instant without warning and without your consent.  One of the most striking things I recently read was not in a book, but the title of one: James Salter`s “Burning the days.”

Whatever your dream is, find a way to make it happen.  Life is short.  Live it now.  Live it with all your strength and passion now.     Don`t keep it in reserve against a day you might not have.  While the ember is still lit, fan it to flame.  I know I talk a lot about living the dream, and I`m an idealist – I know it.  But it`s not self-help, wish-upon-a-star-positive-thinking.  It`s the realization that life is short, and deciding that no one is going to live my life on my behalf.  And one day soon – because it will seem that way, I know it – my candle will burn out too; I want it to burn hot and bright while it`s still lit.  I want it to light fires and set others ablaze.

Last week I stumbled upon the most beautiful thing on the tripadvisor website – someone described a visit to Ibis Bay in Key West, Florida.  And there, one day, this travel writer discovered the “Life is too short” shuttle bus.  She saw this vivid, cute yellow bus with its rooster mascot proudly standing on top – a favourite feature of the picture postcard perfect town and a beacon for tired tourists.

May you be swept up by your “life is too short” bus this year and start living your dream.  Let yourself feel it all – the happy, the sad, the lost, the lonely, the fear, the despair, the love, and the laughter. 

Life is too short to hold grudges, to forget to look after your health, to blame others and to live with regrets.  Life is too short to waste on petty drama, on swallowing your truth or on hiding your light.  Life IS too short, but stop saying it when you`re in fact taking too long to live it.

As Jacob Nordby writes in his book “Blessed are the weird”:

“We only dance around the flame of this gorgeous human existence for moments and the one thing important at all is living beautifully.

You can’t know this right now, but…
your ragged, rugged honesty…
your crazy, passionate, naked vulnerability…
your trusting plunge into the unknown of Life at every turn…
your journey of love and healing…these change your world, the world of those around you and the world as a whole.
Someday you’ll know how important you are.”

Yours in fitness

Mirna

082 779 0507

4 comments to “The “life is too short”-bus”

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  1. Futhi says:

    Thank you for this beautiful piece Mirna. Indeed Life is too short!

    • Mirna says:

      Thank you so much for reading every week, Futhi!

  2. Mariette says:

    My hart aangeraak-baie dankie Mirna

    • Mirna says:

      Dankie liewe Mariette!