Happy-ness
Jane said, “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy”.
The article’s subtitle is a line said by Jane, aka Nightbird on America’s Got Talent. She sang a song titled “It’s Ok”. While sharing with Simon and Howie about her three year battle with cancer, she said, “It’s important that everyone knows that I’m so much more than the bad things that happen to me”.
It is a brilliant insight into life from someone who has a 2% chance of living. If I continue to delay actions or decisions, I am a victim of procrastination.
Procrastination leads to unhappiness.
Two elements arise out of it, a view and a question. The view being, a tragedy in life evokes profound thoughts, and the question is if Jane can be happy, why can’t we?
We should not wait for things to go awry and then decide our way forward. Do we humans skip being happy until we can’t breathe and push ourselves up to get some air? It is a swimming analogy but fits well. We remain underwater till it becomes unbearable, and then we struggle to push ourselves for air. The coach who managed to teach me swimming always said that don’t be underwater till the last ounce of your breath, come up earlier, and you’ll be happy.
The problem with waiting is unpredictability. One can never be sure about what’s next? A good thing is as much possible as a bad thing. Unpredictability can be exciting when the outcome is dependent on our actions. However, if we are going to wait until life becomes unbearable, we will have to be ready for whatever repercussions life throws.
Life is challenging. It is the nature of life to be tough so that you can appreciate the happy moments.
Jane had cancer in her lungs, spine, and liver. Imagine how crippling it is to have all of that and still live a life full of hope. She passed away on 19th February 2022, but her personality was worthy of universal deviation. She was nothing short of absolute inspiration. She fought on and dreamt on till her last, which should be the takeaway from her life.
Jane did not wait to begin her fight and seemed happy before it got the hardest for her. If we started as early as she did, without waiting for a calamity, we have decided to be happy.
