Writing 101 – Day 7 – Hook ’em with a quote

“We all have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.”
― Confucius

There are so many beautiful and meaningful quotes to choose from and talk about that it was hard to pick just one. After going through hundreds of Dr. Suess and Sufi philosopher Rumi’s quotes on Goodreads, I was no close to picking a favourite – I loved them all.

Confused as ever, I let it go but later in the morning when I picked up today’s newspaper, I squealed. Literally. For there was my favourite actor in the world, Tom Hiddleston grinning at me from the front page. Now, I am fanatically obsessed with him. It’s probably a little weird considering I am in my late twenties but I can’t help it. You might want to read why here.

Anyway, I was just reminded of a conversation he had with a live audience at Nerd HQ a couple of years ago where he had quoted Confucius in French and the quote stuck with me (not just because he said it!) but the meaning behind it was quite clear – we’re here for a very short time and there’s definitely no time to waste or dwell upon the past or negativity. We hold onto to so much clutter, drama and excess baggage from a time that’s never going to come back, that it becomes so difficult to move forward. P.S. Tom definitely has a second calling as a motivational speaker. You can watch the clip with the quote below:

I suppose this quote made such an impact on me that at the beginning of this year, I was forced to reconsider all the bad decisions I had made in my life especially in the health department. I also realized that not only did I not want to die sick and unhealthy, I also didn’t want to perish with the deep regret that I didn’t make an effort to pursue my own dreams and goals. Too often, we just go along with the flow – we go along with other people’s plans and never stop to think if it’s something we personally wanted as well. I am guilty of it as well as wasting whatever time I have on unproductive activities and conversations.

So instead of continuing to be a Yes Man, I resolved to do more things that make me feel good about myself – exercising, writing and blogging being two of them. It’s funny because when the ball started rolling, I attracted supportive people such as you wonderful readers, bloggers and friends out there who share similar goals. And reading about your experiences and tips motivated me to keep going and working harder on myself.

Of course, I too have bad days (sometimes months too!) but since this time, I made a conscious and stronger commitment to myself to keep moving forward, those days seem to be reducing in number. I’m still stumbling, faking my way through, learning from the hundreds of mistakes I make and adopting alternative ways to get to where I want to be but the point is, there is progress even if it is slow.

Towards the end of the full conversation, Tom also mentions that he had seen a Youtube video of a boy who had only 100 days to live and he spent those last 100 days “being amazing and he did all the things that he wanted to do.” That just gives you so much to think about.

I started with a quote and it seems befitting to end with a similar quote by one of my favourite authors: