Sometimes in life something really simple can make us open our eyes and realize that our time 'here' is so limited. On this occasion, it was a documentary on Jade Goody a year after her death. I'm not big into magazines or Celebs to be honest and Jade Goody was no exception. I never really followed her life or what she did but I always remember thinking that under her big-mouthed, brash personality, you could see a girl
who was full of love, especially when it came to her kids and I admired that so much in her.
I do remember when it came out that she had cervical cancer and being a bit shocked by it. She was so young and full of life, how could that happen? Since Jade got diagnosed over 400, 000 more women have gone to get a cervical check this year. This is something that we should be doing regularly but before now have 'forgotten' to do or basically put on the long finger - I did it all the time but not anymore. Had Jade been diagnosed 2-3months earlier, she would still be alive today.
While watching the documentary, I was blubbering away - I know, it doesn't take much to open my tear ducts in fairness but it was all the accounts her true friends were giving of her, her kids father speaking so highly of her and in such a beautiful way and the clincher for me was when her mum sobbed & said "Jade had always been a mum to me, I was never a mum to her but when she got sick, she couldn't be a mum to me anymore, so I had to be her mum. I regret to say that it was only when my daughter was poorly, before she died that I was ever a real mum to her".
I always say to myself, "Live in the moment", etc. but this really hit home for me. Life is WAY too short and I don't want to have any regrets like Jade's mum clearly did. From now on I am going to try to do the following:
- Tell those closest to my heart how much I love them
- When I'm with someone, I'm not going to fear losing them, just cherish being with them
- Take a moment every day to be thankful for all that I have & not dwell on what I don't have
- When things go wrong, laugh and see the funny side of it
- Take risks knowing that I'll be ok, no matter what the outcome may be
- When things annoy me in others, I'm going to look at what I love about them instead
- Remember to look around me & see the beauty in nature
- Achieve all the things that I've always wanted to do
- Basically, live every day like it's my last, because who knows, it may very well be...
One of my favourite quotes sums it up for me:
"Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching and live like it's heaven on earth"
Picture from http://www.veryhappypig.com/
