Lessons of life

Experiencing life in 3 hours… you wouldn’t think it were possible.

An entire journey of all that was, and all that it was meant for, consumed and appreciated in 3 simple short meaningless hours. Sat in bed, tucked under the comfort of my warm duvet next to a rather generous bar of chocolate so begun a journey. I had originally intended to read and finish it in a day; never did I think 3 hours would do the trick.

‘The five people you meet in heaven’ – Mitch Albom

If you want a book to open your eyes to life and the simplicity that resides in every day, past the meaningless worry and stress and wondering what is it all for, I am telling you to go and borrow or buy this book. I promise you it will NOT be a waste of your money OR your time. My very good friend Natalie lent it to me amongst 2 other books for the pleasure of my summer reading, and having been old that it explores the meaning of a person’s life after he died through 5 people who influenced his life it was the first I picked up of the 3 out of interest for the topic.

It follows the life of Eddie, an 83 year old that has a timely death on his birthday and upon his death is taken on a journey meeting 5 people; some who influenced his life, those who he influenced and in the process is given the reasons for it all. Have you ever wondered what the reason is for everything that has happened in your life? I know I certainly have! This book explores the reasons in the most simplest of ways, exploring the ideas of sacrifice and love that goes on even after poeple are dead, it explores guilt and the forgiveness that occurs without even realising it. If I'm completely honest it allowed me to home in on my own life, parental influences, the influence of my loved ones, the sacrifices I have made and the sacrifices many have made on my behalf. I suppose it opens your eyes to be grateful no matter what because whilst things aren't always sunny they are certainly purposeful in some way.

My life is at the point where soon I shall be moving forward in this world, away from the comfort of things being taken care of on my behalf, away from the comfort of not paying the bills and providing my own food and if I’m perfectly honest; the prospect of the future has been worrying me because of the many different and uncertain directions it could take. For the first time in a good few years upon reading this book I felt a sense of calm and for those short, cosy, insignificant 3 hours, nothing else mattered to me which meant the world.

I suppose life never really goes the way you want it to and that was certainly made evident in this book, I suppose in every book you learn something and the biggest thing that I learnt was to never go a day without  love and to always be grateful.

So here goes; I love my privileges in this world, I love the people that surround my day to day life even if they aren't here with me in person, I am grateful for the fact that I can say I will see them soon also for the hope that someday it will be different. I am grateful for the lessons I have learnt even if some of them were learnt more brutally than I preferred, and I am very grateful for a certain person who influenced me to open up the doors for love and forgiveness who now (after the influences and messages portrayed throughout this book) has made me feel a strong sense that I am on the right path.