I finally got to have a proper chat with Mimi on the last day of the course I was leading in Bangkok. I didn't really plan for it and neither did she.
In the morning I had a training on Presentation skills and we needed some volunteers to go up and present for feedback. The only reason Mimi decided to present was not because she wanted to practice her public speaking skill, she did that because she wanted to share a clip she received from a friend earlier this morning. The clip asked people the question about our last day on earth and what's important in our life.
During the presentation, I could feel her emotion & passion for this topic. Her sharing really touched me. I was planning to share with everyone in the class about Our Love Quest and then decided against it because it wouldn't be personal. I invited Mimi for lunch instead so that I could share with her about my quest and learn from her too.
I asked Mimi what love means to her. She told me that love is really hard to describe. Love is wanting the significant other to be happy. She wants her husband to know that she loves him. She wants to see him happy because of her love for him.
She told me that her husband has been sacrificing a lot for her and her kids. She's very busy with her career and her husband helps a lot taking care of the kids. And because of the kids, they hardly have time for themselves. They rarely go out for a date alone. Maybe 2 - 3 times a year max and it's not enough. And guess what, right after that she shared with me they were going out tomorrow without the kids for the first time after a long time. I could see the excitement & joy in her eyes.
What about some tips for love? She said:
" Just think of my last day on earth and he's the one whom I want to hold hands. This will solve every conflicts that we have."
Her advice really resonates with me as 8 months ago, I had to convince the rest of the group why I deserved a chance to live and my answer was "I want to stay alive because I want to feel loved and love again. If I die, I want to die in the hands of my better half. Please vote for me."
To complete this story, on the same day, in the evening I went to see a Thai movie called "Die Tomorrow". The movie reminded me of how fragile & unpredictable life can be and questioned me on what's really important in my life.
After the movie, I went to see my Thai sister who just came back from India after 2 years learning Tibetan. We hadn't met for more than a year so I told her a lot of things including the movie, my chat with Mimi and my life purpose on love. She taught me lots of wise things as always and what struck me most was this Tibetan saying:
"We don't know if tomorrow or next life comes first."
I urge you to read this saying again and feel the impact of this. For tonight, when we go to bed, there is no guarantee that we will wake up the next day and that our next life might come first. We just don't know. Today might be our last day on earth.
Who would you want to spend the last day on earth with? Have you been taking that person for granted? When was the last time you said "I love you" or did something nice to them?
Love them as if it's our last day on earth. Show them how you love and care for them. Never stop loving.
P.S: I shared this post to Mimi and here is what she wrote back to me:
Hi Vu, thank you for letting me be part of this quest. So touched and inspiring. Tears in my eyes again....It’s so true that We don’t know if tomorrow or next life will come first. My husband always says “I love you” before going to bed “we don’t know if we will wake up to say this again or not”. I just showed him your quest and he said he was just thinking of you this morning.