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Laugh everyday like it’s your last

Laugh everyday like it’s your last

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Written by Cherelle Jackson
Monday, 30 June 2008
We were dancing at the new community centre, Zodiac up the hill when a man in his 60s stopped in his tracks, and said: “Cherelle, is that you?” After confirmation, he shook my hand and started: “I don’t think you would remember me but I knew you when you were about wee height.” I smiled, thinking, here we go, another of Dads drinking buddies, just as I was thinking that, he said: “I knew your Dad, aw he was a good man that one.” Every time someone says this, I seize the opportunity to learn more about the tall English fella, my father who has since passed on. Pat, continued to talk animatedly about the times he spent in Savaii with him, and how they had some good parties in their day. Using more f-words than your average sailor, Pat moved on to other topics, the road conditions of Savaii, the cool air up in the mountains of Savaii, the beer in Savaii and everything that was good about my home island. “Oh those were the good old days,” he said. Then Pat put his hand on my shoulder and said: “It’s still the good days young girl, so laugh, laugh everyday, because if you don’t then this life ain’t f*ing worth it.” Swear word aside, that phrase drove something home, as Readers Digest had always insisted, laughter is indeed the best medicine. At the age of 60, Pat knew it too well. “If I haven’t done it, I have seen it,” he said. Standing in front of us, granted a few bottle of Vailimas later, he was a picture of contentment. “I have guns in my car, my friends and I pretend to go shooting but we go up to the mountains and chat like old times,” Pat said. I thought about Pat yesterday as I was driving to work. I took a closer look at people also driving to work at the same time, some had a look of deep contemplation on their faces, others look like they were just waking up, others looked content, one was driving with his wife, another with their children and others driving alone. It seemed to me, in the quiet of the morning, in the beginning of the day within the confines of their vehicles, it was a moment of truth for all of us, like the calm before the storm, the minds awaken to the day, and perhaps it is in that moment where we are all true to ourselves and see things clearer. I was reminded of this notion as I sat down with the Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China for an interview yesterday. H.E Longzhuang Shi has a kind face and there is a sense of calmness in his presence, this for a diplomat is unique. After years of interviewing foreign Ambassadors, Ministers, Prime Ministers and foreign diplomats, you start to see a pattern, mostly of detachment and disengagement as if they want to be rid of you before you even speak. It is therefore a great interviewing experience when the diplomat is pleasant and genuine in their conversation. Ambassador Shi is one of those, and with every word exchanged you feel more at ease and the conversation flows. “We share common goals of peace and prosperity,” he said about the relations between Samoa and China. Shi seems to smile when he speaks, and laughter comes naturally in his presence, of course with his assistant Frank nearby, the light side of life is always a topic. So while we ended the conversation yesterday and I shook the Ambassadors hand one last time, I thought again about what Pat said about laughter and life. Friends come and go, people we know leave us and sometimes we only realize their value in their departure, our lives change in time and the fears and the struggles we face today may seem little and insignificant in years to come. Poet William Wordsworth wrote it right: “Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present to live better in the future.” And while we are at it, laugh everyday as Pat said, like it is your last. Comments (18) Subscribe to this comment's feed Life in the Islands written by Tifa O, June 30, 2008 Good one Cherelle. Life in the islands should be summed up just like you said . And we thank the Chinese for helping us do just that. Have a great day people !! No Place like Savaii written by Douglas, July 01, 2008 Faiga a le keige Savaii...MALO Sis.... As I always tell my friends in Fiji who came for the SPG...if you haven't been to Savaii then you haven't been to Samoa..... God bless Samoa and our older brother China Mr. Ambassador written by a guest, July 01, 2008 It seems this man knows the sign of a good life. He is stern, yet not forceful. Kind, yet not condecending Are these the traits of good men? I think so-- Thank You Honorable Ambassador Shi. One can learn a lot from a man of peace. Wise Decision, very wise ... written by Sifa, July 01, 2008 Ms. Jackson: The irony in your title is that nobody laughs, if at all, on his/her last day! The metaphor is probable theoretically, but impossible, practically. I understand the concept as also expressed in Tim McCraw’s hit song “Live Like You Were Dying” though I laughably (pun intended) disagree. I somehow agree more with Tim than Pat - and you. On Ambassador Shi’s sense of calmness and kind face, sheez, do not be taken in by appearances. Looks can be deceiving; appearance is one thing, reality can be quite another, especially if the person is a member of a political establishment. After all, Ms. Jackson, ambassadors are supposed to display gestures and expressions of goodwill and friendliness. They are “commanded” to smile a lot. But I’ll take your opinion (vs. fact) of Shi with a grain of masima from Chan Mow’s store. ‘Aua le seetia i le malu o le tai taeao. Hahaa! As long as we (Samoans) keep siding with mainland China vs. Taiwan, we will get more aid from Shi’s govt. Keep up the good work. Tai tien! ... written by rockcimus, July 01, 2008 Good one Sifa. Just what this article needs... a REALITY check. malo Sifa and Ms Jackson written by sole, July 01, 2008 hehehehe!!! leai o si taupou Savaii (editor) a foi o lo o taumafai e la'u mai ni na i faamalosiaga e faafiafia ai tatou, a mea alii na o polopelemi lava i aso uma e kalagoa ai Samoa lakou!!! malo Ms Jackson, I like the "reminder"..e lelei le fai ma faaalu nisi minute e ata ai ma le soona stress faavalevalea fua. Stress is a result of accidents which can be avoided. So the better we plan, the less stress. Otherwise remember to laugh a ea??? ...** written by GC, July 02, 2008 The irony in your title is that nobody laughs, if at all, on his/her last day! Wow, you've met everybody on their last day to qualify that statement? GC written by Sifa, July 03, 2008 GC: You do have a point, albeit a weak one. The difference between our viewpoints on the issue is that I am more of a pragmatist; and you, seemingly, are an idealist. But if I may use a punctilious and nitpicking approach (similar to that used in your response) to rebut, hence qualify my statement, I can effectively argue that the last day for a person, at least among the Samoans, is the day of the funeral (re: “toe aso” and “toe sauniga”). Therefore, with that reference in mind, NO ONE laughs on his/her “last day”. Faafetai heh written by GC, July 03, 2008 Sifa, nice wiggle. I think we both know what the good editor meant with laughing like it's your last day, you on the other hand chimed in with the verbosity of a clueless connoisseur and committed the fallacy of equivocation. clue: You can't laugh if you're dead. You can laugh on your last day alive, and thats the point of this article, but once you clock out... do you get it? its a given, goes without saying... captain obvious has set up residence. PS: no more sweeping statements, if you haven't met everyone who was alive before they died on that day, don't presume to have an omniscient insight into their state of mind. ... written by JM, July 06, 2008 To be fair to Sifa, the saying: "laugh like it is your last day" doesn't specifically say whether it is your last day alive or your last day dead. GC assumes it means 'last day alive', Sifa thinks it means 'last day dead'. I would ask da teacher for a clarification. I also have a further problem - if you knew you were about to die and that it was your last day, would you necessarily want to be laughing? ...Maybe this is a question for happy hour on Friday evening. ... written by GC, July 07, 2008 JM, Stop pondering on pointless semantics and try to think your positions through... though going with your track record, that is a very tough ask. Exhibit A: "Last day dead". Dont you mean first day dead? I mean, do you get undead the next day for it to be your last? Blah, wading through your walls of texts is like trying to find meaning on the ceiling patterns. Faced with death on that fateful day, a realization will dawn upon yourself of the futility of your e-efforts against me, perhaps you would cry, be mad at the world, go on a killing spree... anything but contentment or a hearty laugh looking back at a life well lived (on the tip of my verbal jackboot). Find Zen on that day my friend. Russel Crowe said it best in Gladiator: Death smiles upon us all, all a man can do is smile back. Strength and honor you pansies. Huh? written by Sifa, July 07, 2008 GC: First of all, it’s obvious that you’re arguing just for argument’s sake. Reality, despite the seeming sweeping nature of my argument, as you insisted, is on my side. You know exactly what I meant which, essentially, was to point out an irony. By irony, I meant an “incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs”. I did not equivocate, I simply pointed out, again, an incongruity - not an ambiguity which underlies an equivocation. Secondly, your idealistic minuscule and nano minority who will be laughing on their last day was actually considered, included, forecasted and hypothesized in my interjection and conditional “if at all [possible]”. Hence my “sweeping statement”, as you charged, was not an attempt to assert an absolute or an omniscient claim, but an irony. Your feeble accusation of my seeming failure in an all-inclusive perspicacious supposition, therefore, reeks of a superficial and futile effort of an unsophisticated student. Manuia le aso JM written by Sifa, July 07, 2008 OR, it could also mean one’s “last day laughing” - not necessarily the same as last day alive, or dead...a? lol! ... I guess one person who laughed on his last day was Saddam Hussein ....hehee ....so GC, we are talking about normal people, abnormal ones don't count. In Between the Lines.. written by My 2 Cents, July 07, 2008 Why read in-between the lines??? I'm pretty sure the writer's intention has been miscontrued yet again. Pule lava Sitafune i le La o lona Va'a...JUST LAUGH EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!! ... written by GC, July 08, 2008 Sifa, I think you should stop, it is getting embarrassing to anyone who can see past your polysyllabic facade. I mean, how did you identify a schism when all i asked you was a simple question? A question you made a meal of by saying laughing at your funeral is probable theoretically[1], but impossible, practically? heh I mean really, stop playing the psychoanalysis doctor on the interwebs. You may be deluded in thinking that your categorization of me as an idealist, my motives with argumentation and a piercing insight into all dying people's emotions holds some water, but its high noon and this nitpicker has a huge magnifying glass on it. 1.JM's theory on ghosts. Theory debunked but give the guy a break! hi my 2 cents written by Sifa, July 08, 2008 ...and why NOT read between the lines? It's quite boring not to.......Speaking of reading between the lines, the Sitafune metaphor exonerates not only the writer/editor (Ms. Jackson), but also everyone else including ...meself!..... ...of course we should laugh every day,...can't seem to avoid laughter especially when the most pervasive online emoticons - LOL! LMAO! ROTFL! ROTFLMAO, FOCL, etc., - endorse that very attitude and disposition......Hahahahaaaaa!..heheheee....see? ...byyeeeeee! LOL!...i luf to laff written by Sifa, July 08, 2008 GC, you make me laugh! ...btw, fyi, Sifa is wysiwyg ... but I’ll stop before further erosion on your touted intelligence becomes more and more apparent ....’n fact, so eroded that one will need to borrow your huge magnifying glass to see it.....LOL! I told you so... written by JS, July 15, 2008 I always said that you were too serious !!! Enjoy life. Dare to live ! Vivere! Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Monday, 30 June 2008 )

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