Read a passage:
There was once such a survey:
A thousand people were asked,
If it is possible to learn in advance,
Do you want to know your exact time of death?
96% of people chose not to,
I always felt like I belonged to the other 4 percent.
If you can know how much of your life you have left,
I think it's actually a relief.
But as it turns out, I don't belong to that 4 percent.
This passage is excerpted from the movie "Bucket List".
As the name suggests, this is a film about death, and it is also a film in which two cancer patients find the meaning of life in the last days of their lives.
There is a saying that goes: all encounters are predestined.
There are thousands of reasons for the encounter, but Carter's acquaintance with Edward is mixed with some fantasy.
Carter was a black auto mechanic who spent forty-five years lying under a small, dark car, earning money to support his family.
Edward was a rich man who "lived in a hundred flowers and leaves", and there were countless properties under his name. There were several short-lived marriages when he was young, and he was alone until he was old.
There is no doubt that they are people of two worlds and should not have any intersection. Due to various circumstances, the two were "imprisoned" in the same ward.
As a hospital owner, Edward had long since set the rule of "two patients, one ward". When it was his turn to fall ill, although he did not want to share the ward with others, he could only act according to the rules.
Edward had just been pushed into the ward, and Carter had been treated for several months. The two people who met for the first time only had a few words of greeting, and then automatically put away the radar on their bodies and no longer received each other's signals.
Time is a real helper, no matter how strange they are to each other, in the melting pot of time, the invisible wall can always disappear into invisibility.
The two suffered similarly:
Taking medicine, chemotherapy, observation, running to the toilet at night and vomiting incessantly, the whole body shivered. The unspeakable pain of the disease wandered all over the body, and the two of them gradually developed a sense of pity for the same disease.
Gradually, the two began to play cards together, talk about mountains, exchange feelings of illness, and become good friends of each other.
In the eyes of outsiders, Carter and Edward are very calm, not as panicked as some patients, but unfortunately everything is a symptom.
In the dead of night, they lie quietly in bed, staring at the ceiling, their hearts tormented. Only they know how much they resist death, how much they hope that everything that is happening now is just a big dream.
Yeah, who can accept the fact that they are about to die? Who can spend time in peace?
When we are young, we are free to imagine how grand the concept of "death" is, and loudly declare what to do before death, but when death is really close at hand, who can not be nervous? How can you not be confused?
In college, Carter's philosophy teacher left an assignment: If your life is coming to an end, what are the unfulfilled wishes?
Forty-five years later, Carter thought he was ready for death. So he lifted his pen again and rewrote the real "bucket list."
However, when the doctor stood in front of him and announced the rest of his life, he suddenly realized that he was not ready, could not accept the facts, and that the previous calm was false.
So the paper full of wishes was crumpled and thrown on the ground, and Carter went to sleep with a lot of heart.
Early the next morning, Edward stumbled upon the paper. After learning the cause and effect, he solemnly said to Carter, "Let's go and finish these things together, there is not much time anyway." ”
He thought it was too late and didn't want to toss anymore. But Edward said, "As long as you want, it will never be too late." ”
It is true that no one can go back to the past, but we can start from this moment in the present. If you want to, even if it's only a year left, you can still do a lot of things.
So, Carter and Edward rewrote the bucket list that belonged to the two of them, and bravely began the countdown journey.
Together, they landed freely from tens of thousands of feet in the air, like birds soaring between heaven and earth.
They raced together, and when the car whizzed over the mound, the dust that was raised was like the melancholy of the past, and it was thrown behind them fiercely.
From the plane, they looked at the moon above the polar ice and accepted the desolation of nature.
In the sunset, they opened their hearts to each other and told their secrets.
They sang loudly in the African savannah and laughed like untouched children.
They were in the Taj Mahal, free to talk about whether they would be buried or cremated after death.
In front of the Egyptian pyramids, they discussed whether to go to heaven or hell in the future.
It has been said that we go to our destination like travelers; the world is the inn, and death is the end of the journey.
Carter and Edward chose to spend the last months of their lives looking for a different meaning of the trip.
During the trip, Carter confessed to Edward the reason for his trip: a huge black hole appeared in life, unable to fill and unable to find an exit.
But when he really walked on the road, the most worried in his heart was still his wife, the woman who had trapped him for forty-five years, the woman who had long been integrated into his blood.
So, he came back, back to his wife. The big hole that is missing will eventually be filled with love.
Sometimes, love is a kind of purity. It is like wine, the longer it lasts, the more mellow the taste. Being in it can be drunk, but it's still addictive.
For Edward, he was not a good husband, and he spent his life wandering around, alone in his old age. But fading the mantle of the rich man and the prodigal son, he is also a father who is willing to give his all for his daughter.
His daughter was abused, and he risked being hated by his daughter to drive the man away. He protected his daughter, but he also lost her.
Carter encouraged him as he lay dying, hoping that Edward would find the joy of life again.
Later, he carefully rang the doorbell of his daughter's house, chatting with her in embarrassment and restraint. He wrapped his arms around his granddaughter and kissed her lightly on the cheek, tears filling her eyes.
At that moment, his wandering heart finally found its home.
Sometimes, affection is a thickness. It is like tea, slightly bitter at first taste, and sweet in the aftertaste. Parents and children occasionally have friction, but the days after the contradictions are resolved are happy.
It's hard to imagine that in three months, Carter and Edward went from strange to familiar and became spiritually dependent friends.
Together, they spent the purest and most carefree three months of their lives. Edward accompanies Carter to pick up his lost dreams, and Carter accompanies Edward to find his long-lost family.
Sometimes, friendship is a kind of breadth. It is like water, colorless, tasteless, formless and formless. But when both sides open up to each other, they can reap the softest goodwill.
In fact, we always subconsciously ignore the things around us, such as family, friendship and love, but really come to the end of life, only to find that it is they that constitute us, shape us, nourish us, and enrich us.
It is because of them that our lives are more meaningful.
At the end of the film, both Carter and Edward die, and the ashes are placed on top of a snowy mountain. Although they closed their eyes, they opened their hearts forever.
Because they have lived, lived hard, really lived.
If life is a journey to death, then the end of their journey is as brilliant as a summer flower. They burned the whole life with the little time left.
Carter and Edward's last days on earth were more fulfilling than most people's lives.
No one can predict the length of life, but we can grasp the direction of life. No one knows how we died, but we can decide how to settle ourselves.
As the movie says:
We can't always think of waiting until I have money, time, or whatever other conditions are ripe, and then do something we want to do long ago, because you never know if you can see the sun tomorrow.
If you want to, don't wait, just now!
Author | Miss Four Seasons, emotionally look at the world, rationally write life.
Image | Stills from The Bucket List