The Last Day

I'm supposed to be doing work right now, but the urge to blog about a discussion that took place earlier tonight (friday, 11/8) has landed me in front of the computer once again.

Earlier this evening, I went to church for cell. We were discussing some of the questions in our little purple workbook, and one of them was "What are some of the fears you have that you wish to discuss with God?" (or something along those lines anyway). Immediately, hands were raised, fists were banged on the table (yes, there are some very rowdy people in my cell who get easily excited), answers and personal opinions were thrown up. As we delved deeper into the discussion, one of the girls, Angie, shared about a friend of hers. Apparently, she has a close friend who says that she has visions/premonitions/whatever you want to call it (I don't wish to comment on the whole reliability of this, because then not only will this entry span the size of ten blogs and take the next twenty years of my life to type, but my comments page will probably also be flooded with debates). Two years back, this friend shared with her and a few others about a vision she had, where she saw unimaginably huge waves crashing onto beaches, with people running amok and screaming, the result being that many of them died as the waves engulfed them. Angie and the other friends laughed and told her that she was being silly. A few weeks later, the tragic tsunami of 26th December 2004 took place. After watching the news, Angie called this friend up, with only one thing to say - "you were right" (I am NOT commenting on credibility and/or reliability here).

A few months or weeks ago, Angie's friend told her about a vision she had recently, in which she saw the end of the world (the second coming, including the trials and tribulations depicted in Revelations). The description she gave was quite graphic and disturbing, and had all the girls in my cell wondering - did that mean the second coming was...well, coming? Soon? While this might have spun off an interesting discussion, it was actually our cell leader's response; what she said next, that really got to me. Putting aside credibility and reliability of these visions (just as in this entry), she said that what we had heard from Angie (or rather, her friend) should in fact make us realise that any day could be THE last day for us here on earth. Therefore, we should live every day like it was our last. Cliched, I know, but true nonetheless.

That really set me thinking - to live every day like it's your last, what would you do?

The first thing that comes to mind, would be to do something that you've never done before - something exciting perhaps, different, interesting, unique, be it skydiving, bungee jumping, mountain climbing (an adventurous being will be proud to say that he or she has already done all these, but someone like me has obviously not done any of the above, so it still applies). Or maybe you'd travel to a country you've always wanted to visit! Then again, your perfect idea of a 'last day' could very well be spending it at Crystal Jade, eating every single dish on their menu.

I'd most probably think up of the whole adventure thing first, like the bungee jumping (though at present I don't see what could possibly inspire me to go jump off a cliff, head first on top of that). The next thing I'd think of would be to go on a one-day missions trip somewhere, to at least feel and experience what it'd be like. But as I think, or rather, thought about it, it struck me that maybe the best way to spend my last day, would be to spend it like any other day, just enjoying it for what it is, and for what each second brings.

My perfect last day would best be spent in the company of family and friends. I'll go to school, attend flag-raising for the last time, eat in the canteen (I will give the granola bar a miss and maybe bother to queue for meepok), see all my friends and teachers and everyone else in school, from the janitors (aunty, zao!) to the principal (morning, Miss Heng!) for the last time. Then maybe I'll go cycling with my family, or swimming. I might even consider giving in to my brother and go bird-watching, as long as it means the last few moments of quality time with the family. Before the day is over, I'll speak to my bedridden Ah Kong and tell him how much I appreciate him scolding me when I was young for sucking my thumb and biting my nails. I'll apologise to my Ah Ma for all the times I felt annoyed with her, or didn't greet her because I wasn't feeling good. I'll visit my Kong Kong and Por Por (excuse the feeble attempts at spelling dialect words that simply aren't meant to be written in English). I'll try playing pool with my Kong Kong to humour him, then I'll attempt to talk to my Por Por in Cantonese, and hopefully, despite the Alzheimer's, she and I will successfully sustain a conversation. I'll call my friend who's emigrated to Melbourne to tell her how much I miss her, and just talk about all the weird stuff we used to do when she was still here. I'll end the day with a home-cooked meal prepared by my Aunty Jos (yup, the maid who's been with our family for sixteen LONG years). Then maybe I'll be willing to leave everything behind.

Yes, that'd be my idea of a perfect last day. But how do you know when your last day will be? And that's precisely it. Why wait for a day of which you will never know the date, to do the things that you've always wanted to do? One of the things I want to do before I leave this earthly world, is to thank anyone and everyone, no matter how well I know or don't know him/her, who has made an impact, regardless of whether it was big or small, on my life. But each and every day, people who impact us come and go - you could give me twenty last days, and I still probably wouldn't be able to thank them all. So why wait for the very last day to do it? And do you even know when that last day is going to be? In addition, for every second that you're angry or melancholic, that's one second of happiness lost in your life. So try to smile! All the time! (:

Yes, this entry abounds with cliched sayings and what nots, but really. How would you spend your last day? And what if today was that day?