This Life Advice From a 27-Year-Old Before She Died of Cancer Is Going Viral
Her moving 'note before I die' contains words of wisdom everyone should hear.
Last week, Holly Butcher, a 27-year-old from Grafton in the Australian state New South Wales,died of Ewing’s sarcoma, an extremely rare form of cancer that develops in the bones. One day prior, she took to Facebook to share a powerful post about the ways her life had changed since her diagnosis and what she had learned since.Butcher's candid, deeply moving message has now been shared more than 86,000 times (and counting) on the social network.
"It’s a strange thing to realise and accept your mortality at 26 years young," she wrote. "It’s just one of those things you ignore. The days tick by and you just expect they will keep on coming; Until the unexpected happens. I always imagined myself growing old, wrinkled and grey- most likely caused by the beautiful family (lots of kiddies) I planned on building with the love of my life. I want that so bad it hurts. That’s the thing about life; It is fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given right."
Butcher shares the most important things she's learned in her 27 years, especially while facing the final stages of her disease. Do yourself a favor and read her entire post in its entirety (above)—it's a powerful reminder of what's really important, and how to make the most of every day. Here, a few of our favorite words of wisdom from Butcher's sincere and incredibly brave message.
On not sweating the small stuff
"I just want people to stop worrying so much about the small, meaningless stresses in life and try to remember that we all have the same fate after it all so do what you can to make your time feel worthy and great, minus the bullshit."
"Those times you are whinging about ridiculous things (something I have noticed so much these past few months), just think about someone who is really facing a problem. Be grateful for your minor issue and get over it. It’s okay to acknowledge that something is annoying but try not to carry on about it and negatively effect other people’s days."
On appreciating your body
"I hear people complaining about how terrible work is or about how hard it is to exercise – Be grateful you are physically able to. Work and exercise may seem like such trivial things … until your body doesn’t allow you to do either of them."
"I tried to live a healthy life, in fact, that was probably my major passion. Appreciate your good health and functioning body- even if it isn’t your ideal size. Look after it and embrace how amazing it is. Move it and nourish it with fresh food. Don’t obsess over it."
"Remember there are more aspects to good health than the physical body.. work just as hard on finding your mental, emotional and spiritual happiness too. That way you might realise just how insignificant and unimportant having this stupidly portrayed perfect social media body really is.. While on this topic, delete any account that pops up on your news feeds that gives you any sense of feeling shit about yourself. Friend or not.. Be ruthless for your own well-being."
On giving back to others
"Give, give, give. It is true that you gain more happiness doing things for others than doing them for yourself. I wish I did this more. Since I have been sick, I have met the most incredibly giving and kind people and been the receiver of the most thoughtful and loving words and support from my family, friends and strangers; More than I could I ever give in return. I will never forget this and will be forever grateful to all of these people.”
On making the most of every day
"Value other people’s time. Don’t keep them waiting because you are shit at being on time. Get ready earlier if you are one of those people and appreciate that your friends want to share their time with you, not sit by themselves, waiting on a mate. You will gain respect too! Amen sister."
"Use your money on experiences.. Or at least don’t miss out on experiences because you spent all your money on material shit."
On the importance of donating blood
"Oh and one last thing, if you can, do a good deed for humanity (and myself) and start regularly donating blood. It will make you feel good with the added bonus of saving lives. I feel like it is something that is so overlooked considering every donation can save 3 lives! That is a massive impact each person can have and the process really is so simple. Blood donation (more bags than I could keep up with counting) helped keep me alive for an extra year – a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends and dog. A year I had some of the greatest times of my life."
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Health
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