What an absolutely tragic piece of news that hit the football world yesterday. I had just returned home from Rugby, whipped up a pot of “brodu” and sat on the couch to watch the cricket and twitter surf. And there it was. Breaking news that Davide Astori, Fiorentina and Italian football star had passed away overnight in his hotel room. This happening I might add whilst he was with his team preparing for their match with Udinese. Now, I am not going to all of a sudden pretend I was his biggest fan. Nor will I claim that I know an awful lot about him. But still the unexpected death of one so young and seemingly healthy still put me in a state of shock.

Davide Astori was for all intents and purposes a great guy. You see, once I heard the news, I immediately started reading articles and doing some research. Unfortunately, like most, I have a morbid curiosity. In the aftermath of his passing, testimonials started flooding the internet from all corners of the globe. From friends, family, former colleagues and managers. And whilst you would not expect someone to be slandering the poor guy on the morning of his passing, in this case, it genuinely seems that he was loved and respected by all.

All matches in the Serie A were cancelled, rightfully so, as the league was given its due time to grieve. Davide Astori you will be missed and our thoughts are with your loved ones at this time.

Now, like when any youngster departs this world too early, I started to reflect on the worlds obsession with a healthy lifestyle. And more specifically my own “lifetime battle” with obesity. I have tried for many years to nail down a pattern of behaviour that would afford me the best possible chance of living a long life. But honestly, it has not been easy and till now I have failed. For the record I am 44 years old.

There are reasons for my continued failures. I was born into a family that has a genetic disposition to be on the large side. For us types it makes the battle all the more difficult. If you add to that a lack of a proper food education during my youth, and struggles with anxiety and depression, the reasoning is there. I offer it not as an excuse for my failure, but more an understanding as to the rules and challenges of the fight.

I, like many who face the same battle, have a tendency to be brutally harsh on myself regarding the continued failure. And what makes it ever more frustrating is the fact that many, many times I have really tried hard. The cherry on the cake for me is my obsessive worrying that one day my time may be up and I will leave behind my young family. As is stands all I can do, is continue fighting and never stop trying. And this I will do. Which brings me now to my point. Whilst I will always encourage people to try and live a healthy lifestyle, I think one should not do so at the cost of enjoying life to the fullest.

If there is one thing the sad passing of Davide Astori teaches us, if it’s your time, it’s your time. There is absolutely no point in negatively obsessing with lifestyle and health if it is going to make you miserable. You can be the healthiest person in the world, eat all the right things, avoid all the wrong things and still be struck down at the age of 31. Along the same lines, you can be careful as you like, drive safe as safe can be and then be wiped out by a drunk driver.

If it’s your time, its your time. Better to enjoy 50 happy years then 90 miserable ones. As a final point, the purpose of this article is not for you to wake up one morning and say f*** it. Perhaps become a chain smoking, alcoholic, sex addict with a fast and furious complex, that makes you believe you are a “professional drifter”. Nor is it meant for you to make any drastic changes in your life. It is just a simple message to remind you to enjoy your life.

Live and love. Simple as that. Try to be better, always, but don’t take it too seriously. And do the things in life that make you happy. That at the end of the day, is all that really matters. Just in case you figured it out the message from this blog is directly aimed at me, but if you can also take something from it, all the better.