Be kind, always.

It’s always an awful feeling when someone you admired passes away. It’s even worse when it comes out of nowhere and from an illness you had no idea they were fighting.

The news broke yesterday that the actor Chadwick Boseman had passed away after a 4 year battle with cancer.

Black Panther is my favourite Marvel movie, so to hear the news of Chadwick’s passing put a dampener on the day to say the least.

The thing I found the most fascinating though and got me thinking was the fact that he had cancer for 4 years and had kept it completely secret from the world. He also continued to work during it all and act in films. During that 4 years, there were two Avengers movies and a Captain America film (amongst others), which if you’ve seen them, have action scene upon action scene and physically require a lot from the actors. All this whilst going through treatments and surgeries.

Not a single person from the outside world knew.

If that’s not a real life superhero, then I don’t know what is.

It got me thinking about how we’re so quick to make judgements about people when really, we have absolutely no idea what’s going on in their lives. On the outside, everything can look fine and dandy but behind closed doors they could be fighting the biggest battle of their life.

It reminds of the age old line “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” and that’s pretty much exactly what we’re all guilty of. The world would be a very different place if we all took a second to think about what we’re doing before we judge someone.

What also got me thinking was the trust that he must have had in his close circle. He went through a 4 year battle and it never once leaked to the press or anything like that. Your immediate circle of friends will either make or break you. If you can’t trust that circle with your biggest secrets, then are they really your friends? One thing that can be said about his friends, is that they were definitely his friends. Keeping a secret like that for 4 years, that’s friendship. That’s loyalty.

We are so quick to make judgements these days. We are also quick to pass judgements on complete strangers because of the accessibility that social media gives us to the lives of others. It’s one thing I can never really understand as there are no benefits to it.

Marian Keyes said “The things we dislike most in others are the characteristics we like least in ourselves.” so the next time you’re sat there judging someone or having a gossip with your mates, just have a think about what you’re doing.

Life is tough, especially this year but I feel that the passing of Chadwick Boseman can be used as a reminder for us all that we need to be kinder to each other because for all we know, that person might be going through something you have absolutely no idea about. Some of the happiest and positive people you know might be facing some of their biggest battles.

Rest in peace, Chadwick.

Wakanda forever.

See you next week.