I saw this on Twitter the other day and it resonated with me for different reasons. Partly because I also have a really dark sense of humor.
And then of course there’s this, one of my favorite Jack Handy quotes of all time.
“Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.”
Is it weird that I like to walk through cemeteries when I have the opportunity? It’s peaceful, quiet, no mobs of people walking around staring at their cell phones.
I like to read the gravestones. Maybe that sounds morbid, but I like anything that forces you to pause in your life, grabs you by the head, and turns it to help you refocus on what’s important. And it’s also nice if you’re lucky enough to come across any gravestones like these…
I mean, if you’re gonna have a gravestone, why not do it right?
This is also why I tend to like funerals more than weddings. I mean, I’m always sad at funerals, but it’s also one of those times when you just got to reflect on what you’re doing with your life. Are you living a good life? Are you making it count? Are you focusing on things that really matter? Because if you let yourself get weighed down on the unimportant minutiae of life, well, to me that’s the thing that’s really sad. Whether you believe in a life after this one, or if you think the lights just go out and that’s that, I think it’s better to get to the end of your life and be able to say, “I had a really good life and I made it count,” rather than, “Dammit! I forgot to put fabric softener in that last load of laundry.”
People much smarter than me have said that a funeral is an opportunity to celebrate the life of the person you lost, as hard as that is to actually do.
I mean, for other people, yeah. For me, I expect everyone to go full Will Ferrell at my funeral (I mean, without the ulterior motive of picking up girls). I expect lots of crying and wailing. There’d better be some fights and accusations break out:
“You did this! You’re the reason he died!”
“Oh yeah! Paul never even liked you!”
I’m just kidding. Sort of (I mean, there better be some crying).
But yeah, for everyone else, I’m thinking that funerals should be a celebration of the life that you were fortunate enough to be part of. It should make people always ask themselves, “Am I living the best kind of life that I can?”
I hope you are. I’m trying to.