The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow, But Will We?

I remember I was in grade school (K-5) when we had a class trip to watch Annie the Musical. We had watched the movie in school and now, we were going to watch it on stage! I was stoked, wanting to sing along with the most popular song, “Tomorrow.”

“The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow
Bet Your Bottom Dollar That Tomorrow There’ll Be Sun

When I’m Stuck With A Day That’s Gray And Lonely
I Stick Out My Chin And Grin And Say
The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love You, Tomorrow
You’re Always A Day Away”

The song is about perseverance and optimism. No matter what the situation is, stay positive because good things will come of it. Hellen Keller, a famous American Author, lost her sight and hearing at the age of 19 months. If anyone were to have a legitimate gripe with life, it would be her. Yet, she did not let her disabilities get in the way of living life the way she wanted to. In fact, she said, “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

Strangely, I was thinking about that song while driving down to Washington D.C. just a week ago. My wife and I had just lost a friend to cancer at the age of 35, survived by her husband and 4-year-old son. The news was absolutely shocking, having just hung out with them about 5 months ago when she was doing great. But things turned and they knew during the final few days she would not make it.

So, it was strange this song popped up in my head as we drove down to the funeral. And it made me think: the sun WILL rise tomorrow, but will we?

We are surrounded by death. In 2021, 69 million passed away. Multiply that conservatively by 10 for family and close friends, and we are talking about an additional 690 million people who are directly impacted by the death of someone. That comes out to 8–9% of the world’s population either died or were impacted by it. So, every decade, essentially everyone in this world, has been impacted by death. Everyone.

Yet, do I live my life with the constant thought of death? It reminded me of an incident described in the Mahabharat, one of the main Hindu scriptures. In it, Yudhishthira, the eldest brother of Pandavas, was asked a question: “What is the most surprising / astonishing thing?” Yudhishthira’s answer was that every day people are dying, yet everyone feels they will remain forever. That is the most astonishing fact of life.

So here I am, standing towards the back of the funeral home, listening to my friend give a eulogy for his wife. I am filled with sorrow — for a friend who lost his best friend and companion, and for his son who will go through life without his mom. And inevitably you go down the path of what happens if I don’t see tomorrow?

As we drove back home, my wife and I were mostly sitting in silence, processing. In my mind, questions were swirling. Have I set up my family for financial security? Do I need to make my will? Who will take care of my kids? Who will look after my parents? After all those, I start taking stock of my own life — what am I doing? Why am I still at that job that is taking away all that time from my kids and friends? As a Swaminarayan Hindu, am I making progress in my spiritual journey? Can I really say I would go to Akshardham (heaven) when I die? Am I even happy?

All of a sudden, Steve Jobs popped into my head. Funny how your stream of consciousness will take you from one place to another in a matter of a second, connecting thoughts and memories you totally forgot you had. I recalled watching Steve Job’s 2005 Stanford commencement speech on YouTube. While I recalled the gist of what he said, I wanted to share his exact words here:

“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. “

Only when we experience a death of someone do we pause and take stock of what we are doing. That’s exactly what I was doing during the funeral and in the car ride back home. While death sucks and is scary, it’s also inevitable. That does not mean we all should just mope around and be pessimistic, thinking what is the point. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. In whatever time I have, let me do what really makes me happy, or is worth it because everything else is irrelevant. And to take it one step further, to exactly what Steve Jobs says above, if you use it as a daily tool, what would you do if today was truly your last day alive? Watch the endless loop of suggested videos on YouTube, or take your wife on a date? Spend those extra hours after the work day to get a step ahead of that project, or take your kids to the park and see their joy? Read the umpteenth article on the upcoming U.S. elections or ensure you strengthen your spiritual connection to God by reading a spiritual book or listening to a religious discourse? I am absolutely guilty of doing all of those former things, when I know if I had just one day left, I would only want to do the latter.

It’s strange. We all live life every day. Yet, it takes death to know how precious it is and how we should be living it. Not wanting this moment of contemplation to go away, I sat that evening, thinking of what I wanted to do differently going forward. Here are the five things I came up with and wanted to share with you:

1. Look in the mirror and ask yourself “if today were the last day of my life…”
2. Do something you love every day.
3. Work towards being the best version of you — could be working out to stay healthy for your family, reading a book to further help you at school, work, home or spiritually.
4. Make time for your family, kids and friends — even if sending a simple text to know you are thinking of them.
5. Introspect daily to take account of the things you should be doing and what things detracted you from staying focused on the important stuff.

All of these points are really distillations of teachings I was fortunate to learn from my late spiritual guru, Pramukh Swami Maharaj. He had this uncanny ability to simplify difficult spiritual concepts into easy to understand and practical teachings. Living in harmony with yourself and those around you is something most religions preach to experience happiness. But how can this be achieved? Pramukh Swami Maharaj shared the concept of gharsabha — where family members sit daily together to discuss religion / spirituality and share updates on what is happening in each other’s lives.

With conflicting schedules and sometimes losing sight of what is truly important, we go through our lives not even connecting with those closest to us. This in turn creates a situation where we become more roommates than actual family members. But by sitting together, parents and children have a forum to communicate with each other, which provides insight into how each one thinks and in turn helps us better understand one another. This then leads to a more harmonious family where everyone feels they are being heard and listened to. And this is why I put down my fourth takeaway of making time for family, kids and friends.

We hear the cliché of life is too short. We know it to be true but can forget that until we unfortunately experience death. But for our own happiness, why not remember it daily and live life to the fullest? Because while the sun will rise tomorrow, there is no guarantee that we will.

Yogesh Patel, New Brunswick, NJ
Treasury/Finance Officer