Make sure to have 'lived' life before you die

She died having been in a coma for 30 hours - it made me wonder, have I really lived?

A 33-year-old friend of mine died two years ago, leaving behind two children and a husband who was madly in love with her.

A car accident left her in coma for 30 hours before she passed away.

Once people heard the news, they said it was an “unfortunate and untimely death”. As much as I hated knowing that I would never see her again, I knew this was God’s will, and that we all have to go where she went in her death.

Death is an inescapable reality that every person has to face and certainly not an option we can avoid. It is the final destination, and some just reach it before others.

The timing is never wrong. The definition of untimely death is any death that takes place at an unusually early age or before the person’s potential has been fully realised.

But what does “untimely death” mean for us? Who decides whether it’s the right time for us to die or not?


Saying that a death was ‘untimely’ is tantamount to saying that what God decided for us was wrong. As soon as we open our eyes in the world, we are told what to accomplish and how to achieve success. Despite all the planning, nobody really ‘plans’ to die.

During our routine life, when death hits us, it is labelled as ‘untimely’.

This life is so temporary, but we often forget that. We have shifted our focus, forgetting that our final destination is death. The clocks are ticking away like a time-bomb, and any moment can be our time to leave the worldly hustle-bustle.

Sadly, most of us are adamant that we will only die when we are old and useless. No, one must certainly not live in misery or fear of death; I’m only saying that we have lost focus. Yes, we can drop dead at any second, but this makes every single moment of life a blessing. If we can make the most of our time in this world, help our surroundings from family to society and thank God in a regular basis, we will be able to lead a fulfilling life.

We are all on a time limit, and when we die (young or old), there’s no coming back. The only question to ask ourselves is,
“Are we ready to depart when it’s our time?”

WRITTEN BY: Mahrukh Abbasi
A Sub-editor at the Life & Style desk of The Express Tribune. She tweets @ Mahrukh_Abbasi

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.