"Life is so short. It's so much more than high school or college or your job."
An inspiring message recorded by a Cobb County teenager before a tragic accident is going viral.
Joelle Dalgleis, a 15-year-old student at Harrison High School, died Sunday, two days after being hit by a falling tree while camping at Red Top Mountain State Park.
After news of her death spread, a friend shared a video message Joelle recorded back in January. In less than 24 hours, the video was retweeted more than 600 times and "liked" more than 1200.
This is Joelle...so beautiful, so loving, so kind hearted. We love you and your forever in our hearts, rest easy pretty❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/tJIJ0zB2tg
— SabrinaPestanaAguiar (@softballsabrina) May 21, 2017
In the video, which is set to "Feel Again" by OneRepublic, Joelle gives her outlook on life, saying that she's is striving "so hard to be good person, and to be nice to everyone and to not judge people for any choice they make."
"I always had this feeling that everything is connected," she says. "Every choice you make. Every decision you make. Everything you do, it's all connected."
Towards the end of the video, Joelle's words are particularly poignant.
"Life is so short. It's so much more than high school or college or your job."
(Full text of the video is below)
A candlelight vigil was planned for Dalgleish at Harrison High School Monday night. Visitation will be Wednesday from 5 pm. to 8 pm. at West Cobb Funeral Home in Marietta, with funeral services on Thursday at 6 pm.
Full text of Joell's video blog:
"Hi. My name is Joelle, and can also call me JoJo, Joe or J.
I guess I just kind of want to tell you about myself.
I always had this feeling that everything is connected. Every choice you make. Every decision you make. Everything you do, it's all connected.
Things that you've went through, and everything that you're going to go through is pre-planned out for you. It wasn't -- there was no way you can change that.
I strive so hard to be a good person, and to be nice to everyone and to not judge people for any choice they make or anything they do because that's the kind of person that I want to be. I'm not doing that for anyone else, I'm doing it for myself.
It took me a really long to realize that it's OK to make mistakes. Sometimes you have to make them. In fact you have to make them, because you can follow exactly the footsteps of those people who are so successful and who swore by the steps they took but you wouldn't be happy because you never listen to yourself.
Step out of your comfort and that's hard. That's really, really hard because you have to trust yourself. You have to believe in yourself but it's one the greatest things you can ever do for yourself. It teaches you that life is more than steps. It's more than technique...
Life is adventure and failure and mistakes and bad choices and all that over and over and over again. And I don't live with regrets because yeah, it might have been a bad decision and you might wish you hadn't have done it, but it's a lesson. Nothing is a waste of time ever. Every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can't ever get back.
Life is so short. It's so much more than high school or college or your job. So I think you really have to pick what you want to be mad about very wisely because, like I said, that's happiness that you can't get back."
