In Islam we believe that when someone dies the angels go around recording ‘witness statements’ from others on what the person was really like.

There’s a sentiment I remember reading in Western fiction that echoes this idea, referring to not speaking ill of the dead.

It’s best to just keep quiet if you didn’t like the person who died because anything you say against them will work against them.

Last Sunday a friend of mine died.

It was so strange. She’s not that close, I suppose. Hadn’t seen her in years and yet all of the week before, I kept thinking of her, thinking I should call her and invite her over for lunch, and then, being busy, I never did.

Last Sunday morning the weather was fine, so we, as a family went for a walk. Oh the sky was blue, the gentle breeze smelled fresh, of spring.

My friend went walking too. In Dundas, the town in which I grew up, and where she lived. And when she was done with her hike, she turned to another friend of mine, said a few words, then collapsed and died of a heart attack.

Quite a nice way to go if you ask me. On a beautiful day, after a lovely walk, to just have a heart attack and die…

I wouldn’t mind.

And then there was the outpouring of shock and disbelief from all her other friends.

She was only 69.

That used to be quite old to me, but now, as I get closer to the age, it’s not that bad.

Contrast that to what I read online about a celebrity I do follow sometimes. Mostly because I think she’s interesting.

She’s quite the bully, and she’s quite stupid, she’s probably going to jail for trying to defraud the government of taxes. She was caught hiding about three quarters of a million dollars from bankruptcy court. I’m talking about Abby Lee Miller.

Hey, before you judge, everyone has their vices and yeah, watching her on Dance Moms is one of mine. *g*

When my family members would accost me saying why I would watch such a trashy show, I tried to explain it’s about understanding an alien mindset. The people on the show, the loud vulgar Abby Lee and the loud vulgar dance moms are so alien to me. They’re so driven in pushing their children forward to make them all famous, it’s quite disgusting and quite fascinating at the same time.

It’s not something I was every exposed to. My parents never dreamed of doing anything like that! We had quite a ‘boring’ unremarkable childhood and I think that’s important! Why pressure children into an adult competitive mindset at such a young age!!! Goodness no wonder so many child actors become deranged!

Anyway, Abby Lee is fifty years old, obese and she was supposed to go under the knife for weight loss surgery and she complained that she had nobody in her life that cared whether she lived or died.

Her parents and dog are dead. And she’s alienated about everyone else.

And I just couldn’t feel sorry for her.

And this past week I was wondering what people would say about her if she died, and then I wondered what they’d say about me.

I think it’s so important to live your life in a way that you do no harm to anyone else.

The older I get, the more apt I am to let go personal injury. If someone hurts me or uses me badly, I just move on for the most part. I try not to think about them. I just avoid them and chalk it up to them not being trustworthy.

The older I get the more I seem to realize that holding onto anger and grudges just isn’t worth the energy! It’s so true that the best revenge is living well!

And especially when I deal with family members who betray me, I take the approach that I do my best to minimize any impact that untrustworthy individuals can have on my life, but for the most part I avoid them and just make sure that I don’t do anything wrong to them.

I don’t want to ‘owe’ them in any way if you get what I mean. It’s okay if they’ve been horrid to me. I can forgive that. But I don’t want to be in the wrong toward them.

And I’d rather err on the side of personal injury than having done them an injustice.

I find it’s a pretty nice way to live. Very peaceful for the most part. Of course I’m not perfect. But I do my best.

And with all the hard work I’ve been expending, I’m finally seeing some results!

So perhaps some good news to share soon insha Allah.

In the mean time, just keep on keeping on.

Peace out.