Any Ordinary Day

by Leigh Sales

‘I don’t say this too loudly because most people can’t handle me saying it, but it’s like a gift to be reminded that life can change, that we’re not in control. To have that shockingly ripped from you, it is a gift. You go, Right, okay.’

Every day we ascribe significance to the most random, meaningless events so as to give ourselves a sense of control over our world.

Life is not promised today or tomorrow. It can all be gone.’

Somehow your heart can expand to carry love for many people. Maybe it’s the same with pain. We can carry so much more than we think we can, whether that is love or pain. The pain is love. It’s just the manifestation of the sad side of losing someone, as opposed to them being with you.’

‘I understand now that happiness isn’t some goal that we’re working towards,’ she says near the end of our talk, ‘it’s just in the daily living of life.’

‘Somehow we need to be aware that we’re mortal, that this time is finite,’ she says. ‘It’s knowing this is all going to end, so let’s make it matter.’

amongst all the good human qualities, there is none greater than kindness.

The random distribution of misfortune is perhaps the only thing in life that is fair.

If you can see that much of what you have is due to chance, it becomes very easy to have empathy.

to be grateful for the ordinary days and to savour every last moment of them. They’re not so ordinary, really. Hindsight makes them quite magical.