Most of us have seen the joke which has been on Face Book and in e-mails for a couple of years. It goes something like this:
When a baby is in its 1st year, parents will say he/she is nearly … weeks or months; … When children are in the 1st ten years of life they describe themselves as 7 and a half etc; When one is a teenager, the age is always nearly 16 or 18 or soon I shall be 21; In our twenties we look forward to being 30 and then we worry about nearing 40 and so it goes on until in our 90s we revert to being 92 and a half and then almost 100.
Most of us have seen the joke which has been on Face Book and in e-mails for a couple of years. It goes something like this:
When a baby is in its 1st year, parents will say he/she is nearly … weeks or months; … When children are in the 1st ten years of life they describe themselves as 7 and a half etc; When one is a teenager, the age is always nearly 16 or 18 or soon I shall be 21; In our twenties we look forward to being 30 and then we worry about nearing 40 and so it goes on until in our 90s we revert to being 92 and a half and then almost 100.
The one thing missing from this is:
between the ages of 16 and 30 we describe ourselves as ‘capable of anything’.
Not only are things such as retirement and turning 70 an awfully long way off, persons in this age group practically consider themselves immortal. There is absolutely no reason for them to consider the future – studying to have a settled job, saving for retirement or, fear of fears, having a Will. That it is something for the far distant future. And death? Definitely not now.
This is the time to have fun. Drive fast cars, do extreme sports, have wild parties and generally try anything which may cause broken bones and bodies; but of course, ‘that won’t happen to me.’ Or will it? Am I suggesting that younger people should not have some years of doing exciting things (how well I remember some of mine) and push the boundaries? Definitely not but it is really important to think ahead at the same time. If you have that gorgeous, souped-up Beemer which can do 180kms an hour then enjoy it – in the right places of course. I myself, love fast cars and wish that I could afford to have one or even just get a ride in one. The fact is there are possible consequences but, it is easier not to even think about those. Sadly, we need to because death and injury do not know age.
I am sure that my daughter will not be upset if I relate a story (I have never told her this) from when she was about 23 years of age and having fun with many friends. Just what should be happening at that age. In a fairly short period of, maybe 6 months, 2 of her friends died – one from malaria and the other in a boat accident. I have never forgotten the look on her face when the young girl in the boating accident died; it was absolute shock that someone so young and someone whom she knew had died; in fact, two people she knew and of similar age had died. Suddenly she, and her friends, seemed to mature and realise that one does not have to be old to die.
When I talk to people about my book, some of the responses are really interesting. From older people it is either that it is a fantastic handbook and extremely useful or a selection of answers: I am not about to die, my lawyer, minister, husband etc knows what to do. Younger people (25 upwards) are either totally disinterested or think that death has nothing to do with them at present. How wrong they are? It may not be they themselves who die young. I was just 32 when I had to handle my father’s death and all that entails, which is a lot! It is these people for whom I wrote my book.
If you are not prepared to handle what might happen when you partake in dangerous activities, it will be very difficult to cope with the consequences which come with them. How will you cope if you are not informed, or empowered as one purchaser of my book described it, and prepared to cope with a death when it happens, suddenly or not. You will be unable to mourn the loss of loved ones. Why? Because you are too busy running around finding papers and making copies and, and, and ….. I know, I have been there!