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I was coming from Spindles gym in Stockport and visiting one of my friends who needed some assistance. At 10:40 am on the way I saw a big green car, parked on the road, and on its back I noticed a written phrase “taste life and don’t waste life.” I thought about the phrase and I came to a conclusion that it is true that as human beings there are times when we have failed ourselves. Human nature allows us to explore different pathways through life but some paths lead us nowhere. Time can be consumed doing the wrong things and it could be with a wrong or right motive. People can be influenced by the environment. Some people are easily influenced by peer pressure, and get involved in drug dealing, gangster culture, prostitution, torment and torture. To some it’s general laziness that devours them and to others its procrastination.
There are thousands of things that occupy human minds and we realised later how they have shattered our lives. Unknowingly they became our idols. The main obstacle to your success is yourself.
So how do we describe the word waste in simplest terms? Rubbish, trash, junk and litter are all unwanted or useless materials. In biology waste is any unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms such as urea, sweat and faeces.
How do we taste life? The word taste it has a wider meaning, to put it in simpler terms, every day we taste things. It could be food, drinks, alcohol or drugs and everything that we taste has a flavour. They are two components of flavour: natural and artificial. Some flavours are sweet, sour, bitter, tangy etcetera. We have the trigeminal senses that detect the irritant in the mouth and throat as well as the temperature and texture.
When people say taste life, what they meant is that one should experience it, go through, live through, feel it, undergo but they do not tell you not to give up. Some people taste or live the life of a rich man; some taste or undergo the life of a vagabond and the list is endless. Sometimes you live through hell and you want to give up and something in you told you not do it or to hold on and to those who found it unbearable they finally give up.
I am still talking about a phrase that I read on the green car this morning: “taste life and don’t waste life” A phrase that brought some eplosives changes in the little village I live. It had a great impact on me. I am someone who always observe the surroundings it could be anywhere I go. A broken glass lying on the ground could have a meaning . I always analyse and think critically. This is the real world we live in.
Later at 2pm this afternoon, when I was coming from my friend’s house, I saw a fleet of police cars and ambulances parked a few hundreds yards from my street. I noticed several small groups of local residents and passers-by standing a couple of yards from the officers. My instincts just told me that something was wrong. With a mind of a journalist, I hurried in my house and quickly grabbed my camera, and rushed out. I deliberately hide my camera as a way not to grab people’s attention as I took the photos. Unfortunately a few people noticed it, and they did not like it.
On the way I met up with a lady who was just coming from her car and meet up with her children, who quickly flew to her the moment they saw her. With ease, the children told the story that one man in one of the houses had committed suicide. I said, “Did they found him alive?” “No. He is dead,” said the children in unison. “So who found him?” It was I probing again. “His girlfriend,” the children replied. “ She came, knocked the door, calling his name several times, she broke the door to get access in the house and finally she found him hanging.” I was shocked to the core and I left the children with their mother as I moved closer to the incident place. One lady asked me with a vehement tone and said, “ why are you taking photos, can’t you see there is police cars and ambulances?” Silently I said these are the skills for journalism, a story with a vivid picture gives a punch. Instead I said to her:“I didn’t know that it was a crime?” It’s kind of a rude answer but certainly it put her off. I deliberately asked her question. “Could you tell me what happened?” She said, “No. I know exactly what happened but I am not going to tell you.” I did not want to embarrass her to say I know what she thought I didn’t know. So I trailed off and moved to another small group of people, which was invitingly and after exchanging greetings, they involuntarily told me the story and it was the same story as the one that I had heard from children.
I became part of the group and stood for a long period with them. We chatted quiet easily. It was a while when I was standing and I saw a blond lady just coming closer to us. She said, “ She was a night mare. Everyday she called him a paedophile.” I couldn’t believe it and we all nodded in disgust. Stories floated in and got to know a bit of the deceased’s background. The late and his girlfriend were always on loggerheads. The girlfriend never ever gave respect to her boyfriend. She tormented him daily and sometimes on the streets to the extend that some neighbours had to lift up their windows to find out the source of the commotion. The two had children together and that at some stage the children were taken away from the parents by the social services when the deceased made a first attempt to kill himself using the pins. Later the children were brought back into their family.
The bombshell of the story emerged later when a group of passers-by came near us and one of them said, “Did he do it? We were with the girlfriend yesterday and she took a rope , went and gave to him.” It was horrible and I could not believe what my ears were hearing. When the group past us we looked into each other’s eyes with another woman and we were equally dumbfounded with the news. “How could she do like that? We thought he killed himself without being aided,” “How stupid it is to give someone a rope to tie himself?” said one the children who were standing next to us.
In a nutshell the events of today knocked me. It was a while when I remembered the phrase “taste life and don’t waste life.” It seemed surreal that what I had seen as a phrase this morning had become life in the events of today. Life is a gift. One should cherish it. When it seems that the whole world resents you there is always a loving, caring man. He knows yours thoughts and he will give you love and peace in your heart if you only allow him to touch you and his name is Jesus.
