Sometimes it takes an untimely death for us to realize that life truly is a precious thing filled with choices, opportunities, and so much beauty. Take the short of life of Holly Butcher, for instance. Holly was a beautiful Australian woman who recently lost her battle with cancer at the tender age of 27.

On January 4th, Holly, died after a courageous battle with Ewing’s sarcoma, an extremely rare form of bone cancer that comes with a survival rate of less than 30%. It’s a devastating illness that, for Holly, made her last years painful, but it also left her with a truly unique perspective on life.

Just before she passed, Holly jotted down a ‘goodbye’ note filled with everything from funny musings to some seriously sage life advice. The night before her death, her father posted it to her social media pages and soon after, her message went viral.

The writing is striking, not just because of its emotional nature, but because the ailing author managed to capture so much in the short note—it’s concise, unapologetic, and, at times, crass, but it’s also 100% honest.

This young woman clearly had something to share about how much life is taken for granted on a day-to-day basis, and she didn’t hold back in saying how she felt about it…

I haven’t started this ‘note before I die’ so that death is feared – I like the fact that we are mostly ignorant to it’s inevitability… Except when I want to talk about it and it is treated like a ‘taboo’ topic that will never happen to any of us… That’s been a bit tough.

I just want people to stop worrying so much about the small, meaningless stresses in life and try to remember that we all have the same fate after it all so do what you can to make your time feel worthy and great, minus the bull****.

Butcher went on to write that “giving” is the key to happiness, something that she herself admitted she realized too late.

Give, give, give. It is true that you gain more happiness doing things for others than doing them for yourself. I wish I did this more. Since I have been sick, I have met the most incredibly giving and kind people and been the receiver of the most thoughtful and loving words and support from my family, friends and strangers; More than I could I ever give in return.

She even found a way to address the importance of keeping organized and building respect in relationships.

Value other people’s time. Don’t keep them waiting because you are s*** at being on time. Get ready earlier if you are one of those people and appreciate that your friends want to share their time with you, not sit by themselves, waiting on a mate. You will gain respect too.

Wow! It’s not every day that we are blessed with such a wise perspective—from a 27-year-old, no less. To hear even more incredible quotes from Holly Butcher’s goodbye letter, be sure to watch the video below. It’s a truly powerful message that we will never forget.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on Holly’s life advice. Were you touched by her goodbye letter? If so, which quote impacted you the most? Do you have any powerful life advice of your own that you would like to share?