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How heart-breaking it is to watch those who suffer from disasters the world seems to be cursed with. Yet for the most part, it is even more poignant to see those who lose their loved ones after having lived through. When such massive pain is so helplessly widespread, it is ruthlessly reduced and unable to draw the attention it deserves. What is worse than being forced to bear such indescribably huge but not yet virtually lethal pain?

How should one live if there was no tomorrow? The continuity of life is so naturally taken for granted, as the deaths we see in newspapers and novels are subconsciously taken as stories outside of our lives. Saddening they are, undoubtedly, yet never genuinely relevant. If tomorrow was to vanish, if we were to have no more dawns and nights, we might then come to the realisation that the cyclical and repeating days of our lives were never truly cherished. They come too religiously, just as everything in life besides sudden wealth and miraculous love. But if we were to feel regretful over never having to treasure and devour the breath-taking sunsets, or the heart-felt words we had, when there be no tomorrow, this becomes all the more meaningless.

If there was no tomorrow, let us feel grateful to have had a life to experience and to live through the last bits of it restfully. Stay where you feel warm and secure, cook yourself a good meal, get yourself some of your favourite drinks, enjoy talking with your beloved ones. There is no need to look back, for what we had in life—the troubles, growths, loneliness, and happiness—they represent merely two things—pain and gain. While the pains teach us how to make the right choices, the gains create a wall of protection where we learn to see through manipulation and go our own way. When there was no future, these gains with their purposes of making our future happiness less fragile subsequently lose their values. We are thus left with the painful memories, what are they but useless burdens that stop us from enjoying the last moments of life? So let go of your memories, be they mournful or gratifying.

Give up on profound meditations, let go of all the effort made to create a better tomorrow, rest your heart. Don’t confront your enemies with harsh words, don’t pour your gratitude and love to the ones you love. For when there is no tomorrow, memories are invalidated and these are made pointless. Don’t grieve about the unlived dreams, don’t overwhelm yourself with regret. If there was no tomorrow, you’ve got no time to relish that mesmerising sense of accomplishment when you do realise your dreams anyway. This will only obliterate your last opportunity to be happy. Let down all hopes, all guilt, all waiting, all dilemmas. Smile, for the first time ever in your life, you could live without any bondage love and hate, you are the absolute ruler of your life, you are made truly free.

*Cherish life when it is, don’t wait till it is too late. And when it is, treasure what you’ve got left.