Holly pressed her loved ones to stop stressing about documenting moments and actually live them.
Holly Butcher was just 27 when she died of Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that can affect young people.
But the day before she passed away, the Australian wrote an emotional and inspiring Facebook post (shared by her family on Thursday) that has touched people around the world.
Holly started the post, which she called her “note before I die,” by saying that she is happy and doesn’t want to die. “I always imagined myself growing old, wrinkled and grey—most likely caused by the beautiful family (lots of kiddies) I planned on building with the love of my life. I want that so bad it hurts,” she wrote. “That’s the thing about life; It is fragile, precious and unpredictable and each day is a gift, not a given right.”
Holly then went on to dispense some amazing life advice. "I just want people to stop worrying so much about the small, meaningless stresses in life and try to remember that we all have the same fate after it all, so do what you can to make your time feel worthy and great, minus the bullshit,” she said.
She also encouraged people to focus on their mental and physical health, encouraging readers to “be ruthless for your own well-being.” “Remember there are more aspects to good health than the physical body.. work just as hard on finding your mental, emotional and spiritual happiness too,” she said. “That way you might realise just how insignificant and unimportant having this stupidly portrayed perfect social media body really is.. While on this topic, delete any account that pops up on your news feeds that gives you any sense of feeling shit about yourself.”
Holly pressed her loved ones to stop stressing about documenting moments and actually live them. “Try just enjoying and being in moments rather than capturing them through the screen of your phone,” she said. “Life isn’t meant to be lived through a screen nor is it about getting the perfect photo."
She then listed off must-do things for everyone:
“Get up early sometimes and listen to the birds while you watch the beautiful colours the sun makes as it rises.
Listen to music.. really listen. Music is therapy. Old is best.
Cuddle your dog. Far out, I will miss that.
Talk to your friends. Put down your phone. Are they doing okay?
Travel if it’s your desire, don’t if it’s not.
Work to live, don’t live to work.
Seriously, do what makes your heart feel happy.
Eat the cake. Zero guilt.
Say no to things you really don’t want to do.”
Holly ended on this note: “If you can, do a good deed for humanity (and myself) and start regularly donating blood. It will make you feel good with the added bonus of saving lives,” she said. “Blood donation (more bags than I could keep up with counting) helped keep me alive for an extra year—a year I will be forever grateful that I got to spend it here on Earth with my family, friends, and dog. A year I had some of the greatest times of my life.”
Holly said she doesn’t “mind” if people don’t take her advice, but she wanted to share. People were floored in the comments. “What a beautiful being you are. You found in your 27 years what has taken me 70 years to realize,” one person wrote. “I read every word and cried [through] it,” another said. “I don't know you but I wish I had.”
Holly died on Thursday per her Facebook page, and her family said that her passing was “short and peaceful.” We're thankful that she was willing and able to share such meaningful words with the world before she passed away.