Many of us are guilty of saying that knowledge and understanding is the same.
- If you say, "I know what you feel..." it means that you have the knowledge of WHAT it is.
You simply know what the feeling is but you cannot fully understand because you are not experiencing it or you have not been in the same situation.
- Saying, "I understand how you feel..." is different.
Understanding brings emphatic emotion. You become sympathetic with the person. You FEEL or HAVE FELT HOW the other person is feeling. You have been in the same situation, per se.
Okay, enough with definitions. What I am really trying to share is my stand on the movie:
ME BEFORE YOU
Photo Source: http://mebeforeyoumovie.com/
For those who have not watched it, I suggest you do. (So, not only for you to understand what I mean in this entry but also you’ll get to see life in other people’s perspective.)
Yesterday, I have watched it for the second time and my eyes got swollen again. I can say that I have shed tears twice the amount than the first time. I won't deny the fact that I can be easily persuaded with good music and sad love stories.
"You only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible."
That line, coming from the man who wants to end his life, is the best irony of all time. I cannot reconcile the fact that he knows he can still have a good life with her and still wants to die. Just because he can’t accept what was already lost in his life doesn't mean he would be better off dead.
The man in the movie is paralyzed from his neck down to his feet after being in an accident that damaged his spinal cord. He used to be outgoing but after the mishap, he declines to accept his life with disability that requires dependency from others. Everyday, he also experiences a lot of pain and suffering and without any hope of recovery. Thus, wanting to end his life with euthanasia. While the lady wants to change his mind and promised that she can make him happy, the man wants her to live her life fully instead of "half a life" with him.
That situation is my perfect example for this sentence:
I know what you feel but I cannot understand.
I know that he is suffering. I know that he is desperate about not being able to go back to his old routine. I know that he knows that a lot of people love him and someone accepts him fully. But, I STILL CANNOT UNDERSTAND why he chose to die.
To be clear, I DO NOT JUDGE and I know that I HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE people who commit suicide (whether assisted or not). I'm just saying, I cannot understand because knowledge of what they feel is different from understanding how they feel.
My modest confession:
I am grateful for sappy movies because it allows me to see different perspective of people and the kind of life that others have. If you feel hopeless or depressed, think of at least one thing in your life, even if it is just a small one, that makes life worth living.
It made me realize that no matter how hard life is for someone, there will always be that one thing to be thankful for—that one thing to make you feel how blessed you are.
(Oh, such movies also allow me to clean my eyes through crying. Haha!)