Death of a friend

The death of an old friend a week ago reminds me of a play by Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman.

This play is based on the brink of the 1950s, a decade of unprecedented consumerism in America. The main character is Willy Loman, an insecure and self-deluded traveling salesman. He believes wholeheartedly in the American Dream of easy success and wealth, but he never achieves it. Nor do his sons, Biff and Happy fulfill his hope that they will succeed where he has failed. Willy considers the promise of the American Dream—that a “well liked” and “personally attractive” man in business will unquestionably and deservedly acquire the material comforts offered by modern American life.

He is a dreamer of epic proportions. He dreams of material success and freedom. In the end of the play, Willy’s blind faith in his stunted version of the American Dream leads to his rapid psychological decline and finally to his suicide.

The death of Willy Loman is due to his inability to distinguish his wild hopes from rational realities in the present. He is unable to accept the disparity between the Dream and his own life.

Back to our real world, we are all given the time and plenty of opportunities. We should consider our dreams and ability when accomplishing them. In the meantime, we should show our love and caring to our dearest family members.

The healthiness of mental is as important as the healthiness of physical. Take care of our body as well as our minds. There are ups and downs in daily lives. Challenges and uncertainty create fear, doubts, anxiety, pressure and even depress in us. Sometimes look the problems at the other angle will make us find new ways. There is no use to hold tightly on something until it harms our heart and mind.  There must be some conclusions to the problems. Sometimes all it needed is time. Sometimes we need to make a stop. Rest for a while and reflects on what we have done. Think about our progress and plan for the journey.

As long as we have the time, we should not be afraid of the problems we face. Thus, manage our time wisely. “Play well” and achieve what we want in a healthy way.  The most important is appreciate the time we have. I believe a wonderful and healthy long life is ahead of us.

Our “play” continues; our story proceeds; but not the friend of mine. His “play” has been taken by a sudden disease. His story ends at the age of 32years, 3 months and 13 days. Rest in peace, my dear friend…