Our work as journalists is incredibly diverse. As most of our readers can imagine, trying to hold the political machine to account is a significant part of that – but for many of us, the stories which are a bi-product of that are not the ones which stay with us the most.

In our work, we meet people – normal people – from all walks of life, who are going through all kinds of situations. Writing their stories, for us, can sometimes be the most powerful, prompt the most sensitivity, and, by extension, be the most thought-provoking.

We tend to refer to these types of stories as ‘Human Stories’ in our newsroom: they are stories intended to tell the stories of people who perhaps think that they are your average citizen; but who are, in fact, extraordinary people in their own way.

The pages of yesterday’s edition of The Malta Independent on Sunday told the story of one such person.

Angele de Leuw Muscat, a mother of a girl aged four and a boy aged three overcame metastatic breast cancer in 2022 after being told that she had, at best, two years to live – only to now be diagnosed again with two brain tumours and a return of the breast cancer.

Yet, her courage in these circumstances is nothing short of extraordinary. “I know that I will get over this. I don’t know how, but I know that I will and I’ll be stronger and better for doing so. I’m very relaxed this time around,” she said in her interview.

“I think that everyone needs to look for this ember within, so this is something that I apply to myself rather than other people. At some point in my experience I thought that there were only ashes left, because I was in constant emotional pain and it felt like there was nothing to live for. Following my initial diagnosis, I found this spark inside me and I realised that there was a lot to live for”, she said.

“I think people are afraid of dying but if you’re afraid of dying, you’re afraid of living. If you’re living your best life now there’s no fear of losing anything. If you’re enjoying the now, there’s nothing to lose,” she added.

Each of these words are worth their weight in gold. 

It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of what our life and society has become. A work-life balance eschewing itself ever more in favour of the office; an emotional state which has come to rely more on validation from others rather than comfort with oneself; a sense of enjoyment which has become related more to what is material, than what is living around us.

Sometimes it feels like many of those in society have not found the ‘ember within’, as Angele puts it.

Life isn’t about running on autopilot – rinsing and repeating the same soulless routine – till the day we die.  Life is, at core, about seeking happiness and enjoyment.  So why shouldn’t we aim to do that, while we still can?

Tomorrow is indeed always a new day, but you never know what it may bring.  For some, tomorrow will be their last. For some, it may be the start of the end.  Regrets and ‘what ifs’ then, unfortunately, would be too little, too late.

So let us not take life for granted, and let us all strive to do what we can to make the absolute best of it – and seek happiness in everything we do – while we still can.