COUGH OF LIFE 1...Twilight

COUGH OF LIFE



Twilight…Life before Our Eyes


In the grand scheme of things, life here on earth has its limits.

Have you ever wondered that life no matter who we are

or what status we have can be taken away from us in a blink of an eye.

There maybe times in our existence that we felt invincible.

These are the times when we succumb to the devil’s advocate.

Like being too proud to sincerely apologize or hesitancy to express gestures of love,

Because we think it’s too clichéd and the favor might not be returned.

We are guilty of procrastination…

We procrastinate even with the people we love the most.

We always delayed the supposedly endearing delivery of love.

We dramatized our lives and think that it is like telenovelas.

We stop and delay…and say…to be continued…

Probably we thought that life will wait for us.



I had lessons learned the hard way. I realized that sometimes we don’t value life

or should I say the opposite, to the point we over indulged ourselves in material

stuff because for us this is life. We felt vindicated by our so called principles,

even if they tear down relationships and hurt people.

We fill the empty void with recyclable goods, and yet still feel unsatisfied.

I am guilty of these shenanigans, until life flashed before my very eyes…


It was around a year ago when I and my family went for a swimming picnic.

I am normally an athletic guy and grew up in a place surrounded by water.

I felt invincible, as I tried to cross the man made pond.

I developed a cramp halfway; I thought I can make myself float

But the heavy lunch I took made it worse, I was fast sinking and too exhausted to trek above water.

My family was just 20 feet away but don't have any clue that I was drowning and fighting for my life.

It was life unfolding unto my eyes. It was life coughing on me. Fear envelope my being.

The fast, hurried life I used to have seems playing like a slow motion in a form of a slide show.

At this moment, questions start firing in my mind while I am wiggling and waggling, “is this it?

“Am I going to die?” “Not yet God!”, “I still have a lot of things to say to my children and my wife”,

“I still long to stay with them for more time”, “who will take care of them?” “Am I going to die now Oh God?”

Then suddenly, I saw an inflatable life jacket falling down from the sky to my direction which was thrown by the lifeguard.

With almost no power and with a chest almost to explode of exhaustion,

I cling in to the jacket hanged on to it and I float above water

while recovering from the exhausting and death defying ordeal.

I said to myself, maybe my time has not yet come. It was an awakening.



Working in an Intensive Care Unit, made me value life more than ever before.

Man and woman who are on prime of their lives are all of a sudden

facing life and death situations. They are mostly victims of horrific road traffic accidents.

Who would imagine they would have such fate. Life comes and goes…

But sometimes I can’t help myself to wonder if these people have had the chance to

Even say goodbye to their love ones? Much more, forgive or even exchange gestures of love.



Sometimes, we tend to take life for granted, like a mundane cycle of waking up,

working and sleeping. But God gave us our life for a purpose.

We may not know yet our true purpose, but definitely it is not to procrastinate.

So go ahead, if you feel compelled to hug and kiss your love ones, do it now.

Or planning to reach out and apologize to a long term rival, go ahead. If you think of delaying

to do something that you are passionate about, do not hesitate move on.

Have more patience in our children when they throw tantrums at us, instead play with them, cuddle them.

Don’t wait for others to express peace and love. Initiate.

Savor each moment. Because life will not wait for us even in our twilight.