Who will you Meet?

Over half term I made it my mission to actually take some time out and do stuff for myself that did not revolve around work, school, or really being on a laptop at all. One of my main targets (other than catching up with friends and family) was to finish the book I had been reading (‘Our Stop’ by Laura Jane Williams- AMAZING, honestly go read!) and then begin a new book!

Years ago, back when I was in college, I read the book ‘The Five people you meet in Heaven’ by Mitch Albom. Even then I was blown away by his writing talent, and the idea behind the story got me thinking. More recently, Mitch has written a sequel to this first book; ‘The Next person you meet in Heaven’ and again, this many years later it hit the exact same- a great book with some deep meaning.

Both books focus on a character who has ‘died’ in some circumstance and have found themselves in Heaven. In ‘Five people you meet in heaven’ we meet Eddie who has passed away after an accident at an amusement park, and in the sequel  ‘The Next person you meet in Heaven’, we meet Annie- the little girl who Eddie had saved many years before at that same amusement park, in that same accident. Before they continue on, into the afterlife they must first meet 5 people who they had come into contact with or passed by during their lives. Some of these people may be very well known to, but others you may not have even realised existed until that very moment.

Two things about this book made me stop, and think…

1. Literally my inner voice was saying ‘Bloody hell I want to write just like this!?’ What a great premise for a story, and what a beautiful way for it to be written- both dark and light comes through and you don’t know what’s (or who) is coming up next.
   
2. If we were in Eddie and Annie’s position- which 5 people are we going to meet in Heaven?

Everything we do in life affects other people’s lives too.

A conversation with your family in the morning can set the tone for the day, resulting in them choosing to do one thing rather than another. The conversation you had with the cashier at the shop this morning, can set them off on two separate paths depending on how you acted, and how you spoke to them. Someone in the street that you didn’t bat an eyelid at before, could be one of your five people, due to how your words and actions have impacted them.

Now obviously this book is a word of fiction (as far as we can tell… :)) and who knows what’ll happen when we pass on. However,  just by thinking in terms of the 5 people we could meet in Heaven, puts into perspective our lives, and how we are living it. One word, one action, can affect one person’s life immeasurably.

Eddie and Annie met some very interesting people and by the end have worked their way through and come out the other side lighter, more informed, and most importantly in my eyes more aware of the impact they have had on everyone around them, no matter how small their role in those people’s live have been.

If you can, go and read both of these Mitch Albom books (and any others you can get your hands on)! They are genius, and really give you food for thought.

I’ll leave you with this:

Which 5 people would you want to be waiting for you in heaven? What would you like them to say to and about you? How do you want to have impacted someone’s life?

A short blog I know…. Work is go go go!

But for now have a great month of March, (we are so close to things starting to reopen, yippee!!)

Sinead xx