“I’m not dying lah.” Four words. Usually delivered with a laugh, a wave of the hand and an impressive ability to change the subject.
It’s funny because it’s familiar. We know the paperwork matters. We know we should get around to it. But somewhere between the school run, a work deadline and deciding what’s for dinner, our future selves quietly inherit another item on the to-do list.
We plan for everything. Except the handover.
We insure the car. We back up the phone. We leave instructions for the person watering the plants. Yet the people closest to us are often left to figure out the biggest things without a map.
Not because something terrible is around the corner. Because love, in practice, often looks a lot like making somebody else’s life a little easier.
What if we made it less dramatic?
Writing a will doesn’t need thunder, violins or a sudden philosophical reckoning. It can just be one of those grown-up things we do, like setting up an emergency contact or finally remembering where we put the spare keys.
Maybe the better question isn’t “Am I going to die?” It’s “If someone needed to act on my behalf tomorrow, would they know what to do?”
It’s not quite as catchy as “I’m not dying lah.” But it might be a more useful conversation.