It’s okay

With cancer in her lungs, spine & liver, Jane ‘Nightbirde’ Marczewski said:
“I have a 2% chance of survival, but 2% is not 0%. 2% is something… and I wish people knew how amazing it is.She used her “2% chance of survival” by living her best life and inspiring millions. I watched her audition and was speechless but well that’s me due to the impaired speech. I love how she had embraced her story and how she was saying and the fact that so many good things had happened to her compared to the cancer .The original composition, it’s okay reminds me that it’s okay to be lost because we have all been there. That there was an icon of hope not only to cancer patients but to all patients worldwide including yours truly. Nightbirde chose not to die before her actual death. “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy”.These words really hit me. She not only sought meaning, but happiness as well.

Before we go any further, I want to make it 100% clear that I am not talking about physical death. The premise of dying before you die is to achieve self-liberation and become free from worldly concerns, while continuing to live in this physical life. Nightbirde had the option of sulking up, going for chemotherapy and just living with Cancer. She however chose a better option, composing the song that pretty much summarized her last year at age 30 and she was saying,it is okay people.We all die while living,we live one day at a time till we are perhaps 75 years and call that life, that is not life. You live, get money and get happy for you, that there is not life.Lots of us die while still physically alive. Living is finding clarity for your existence, being the sponge that absorbs the negativity and giving people hope and the reason for living while emiting positive vibes, and because of that someone can say that they didn’t give up, that is life. You need to find the reason for your existence then that’s when life begins. Nightbirde was only 31, and she was inspiring thousands. She wrote beautifully. I read her piece and it inspired me to write Once an adult twice a child I saw this young lady with a terminal illness but daring to live and sharing her story with us. Her positivity inspired someone out there. Why do I think that she was writing a book, don’t mind me I am just thinking out loud. I know what it means to write while infirm and weak with the uncertainty of recovery.

In life, there are two kinds of people those that seek happiness and those that seek meaning.
People who pursue happiness never find that which they seek. The other problem with pursuing happiness is that life is always brutal and if you are into happiness you will be disappointed. Finding meaning means redefining life and the reason to live, one can be happy after seeking meaning whereas one can’t find meaning in happiness. Seeking meaning is outliving oneself and finding clarity in life.Happiness never lasts. Meaning lives on from one generation to the next. Meaning transcends happiness. Happiness cannot give meaning but Meaning can give happiness. Find that which is meaningful and commit your life to it. If Nightbirde had pursued happiness, she would not be happy because of the cancer at a young age. Nightbirde however pursued meaning and embraced the situation and said, okay this has come, how do I move on.She was happy while seeking meaning.

The problem with life is not that it is short, but death is long. We are going to be dead longer than we are alive. We don’t know when death ends (if it is death anyway). Nightbirde had lived for just 31years which means in 2070, she would have spent 48 years in the grave. The end of one life is beginning of another life. Knowing that we are gonna be dead for too long, let’s live! Fight for your space in the world. Say the things you want to say, even if that means suffering consequences for those things. Do the things you want to do and embrace the side effects of each. Even with the debilitating stroke and the paralysis, I can smile at the storm and say, its okay, we are all broken but even broken crayons do paint. Rest well, Nightbirde you taught us how to live well in pain. Your voice, your story, and your message touched millions. Rest Easy Jane.