With all turmoil going on in the world as of late (Myanmar, China, tornados, tsunamis) I know that what i'm about to say won't seem like that big of a deal. I'll admit it, for the most part, i have it easy compared with most...i have not complaints (thank god)
See, when i see the $hit and suffering going on on the news, it's just news. Yeah, i feel horrible to the people that are going through horrible times. But compared to most people around the world, a lot of us in the west live pretty sanitary lives.
I mean, we hardly ever seen pple dying on the streets or kids starving or dying from lack of food and medicines. For most of us, it's 9-5, daily routines, bills, and the occasional little life crisis that come out of nowhere. I think for the most part, we live pretty easy lives.
At times, i feel a bit guilty (and grateful) that my friends and family hasn't experienced any kind of tragic event. As I get older, the thought of losing my friends and family effects me more and more. It's not about death and dying. I mean, i realize that we all gotta go one day. It's the thought that one day our loved ones will be gone or that we will leave our loved ones behind.
The other day, my sister and I were driving home when we come across an auto accident that had just occurred minutes earlier on an otherwise normally quiet street.
I've seen a ton of accidents in my life time, but i've never seen a fatal one. I mean, i know that people die in car accidents all the time, but i only see the little white crosses afterwards...i've never really seen anybody dead at the scene.
On one side of the intersection, there was shattered glass and a smashed motorcycle. On the other side of the intersection there was a blue sedan with the roof that appeared to be torn off. My sister and I thought it was just another accident as usual until we saw a fire fighter performing chest compressions on a lifeless body on the sidewalk. We were speechless.
Now, i've seen dead people before. I've dissected cadavers when i was in school (anatomy/biology) and i've been to funerals with open caskets. But i'd never seen anything like this.
I mean, the firefighters were doing the compressions and all as if the guy's life depended on it, but we could tell that there was no coming back. I know he was doing it till the ambulance arrived and the paramedics pronounce him dead. But he was still doing the CPR as if the guy had a chance. It was very touching and profound.
Even days later, i'm filled with mixed emotions. I mean, like i said, i know that death happens and that there are a million events going on in the world that makes this event seem small....maybe i've grown to be too sensitive.
I keep thinking about how he was just lying there dying while life just moved on. I keep thinking about how no matter how strong we all think we are, we are really very fragile and one minute we can be here, the next second we can be gone. I keep thinking about the guy's family....that knock at the door. A police officer telling a mother that her son has died. Maybe he had brothers, sisters, a wife, kids?
Don't get me wrong, i'm not being emotional and all, but i've just been in reflection mode for the past couple of days. Reflecting about the things that are important in this world and the things that are not.
For example, as parents, we work so hard to make money to provide a better life for our kids, but the only thing that our kids want is for us to be with them. And then, we work an ungodly amount of time for our homes and cars for a good, comfortable, life only for it to be taken away at anytime.
Is our time being spent wisely?
On the news later on, i find out that he was driving recklessly on his motorcycle, weaving in and out of traffic. A cop saw him and he sped away....the report said that it was the speed that caused the fatal collision. The driver of the sedan had non life threatening injuries (thank god). The motorcyclist, about 20 years old, died from the collision. Was trying to avoid a ticket (or jail) worth the price? Later on, i joked with my husband and said something like, he may have escaped the cops, but he couldn't escape God.
Regardless of why/how he died. As a mother, I'd be devastated. It just makes me want to glue my son to my arms and never let go. Weird...now that i've had a baby, i'm all 'sensitive'...go figure
See, when i see the $hit and suffering going on on the news, it's just news. Yeah, i feel horrible to the people that are going through horrible times. But compared to most people around the world, a lot of us in the west live pretty sanitary lives.
I mean, we hardly ever seen pple dying on the streets or kids starving or dying from lack of food and medicines. For most of us, it's 9-5, daily routines, bills, and the occasional little life crisis that come out of nowhere. I think for the most part, we live pretty easy lives.
At times, i feel a bit guilty (and grateful) that my friends and family hasn't experienced any kind of tragic event. As I get older, the thought of losing my friends and family effects me more and more. It's not about death and dying. I mean, i realize that we all gotta go one day. It's the thought that one day our loved ones will be gone or that we will leave our loved ones behind.
The other day, my sister and I were driving home when we come across an auto accident that had just occurred minutes earlier on an otherwise normally quiet street.
I've seen a ton of accidents in my life time, but i've never seen a fatal one. I mean, i know that people die in car accidents all the time, but i only see the little white crosses afterwards...i've never really seen anybody dead at the scene.
On one side of the intersection, there was shattered glass and a smashed motorcycle. On the other side of the intersection there was a blue sedan with the roof that appeared to be torn off. My sister and I thought it was just another accident as usual until we saw a fire fighter performing chest compressions on a lifeless body on the sidewalk. We were speechless.
Now, i've seen dead people before. I've dissected cadavers when i was in school (anatomy/biology) and i've been to funerals with open caskets. But i'd never seen anything like this.
I mean, the firefighters were doing the compressions and all as if the guy's life depended on it, but we could tell that there was no coming back. I know he was doing it till the ambulance arrived and the paramedics pronounce him dead. But he was still doing the CPR as if the guy had a chance. It was very touching and profound.
Even days later, i'm filled with mixed emotions. I mean, like i said, i know that death happens and that there are a million events going on in the world that makes this event seem small....maybe i've grown to be too sensitive.
I keep thinking about how he was just lying there dying while life just moved on. I keep thinking about how no matter how strong we all think we are, we are really very fragile and one minute we can be here, the next second we can be gone. I keep thinking about the guy's family....that knock at the door. A police officer telling a mother that her son has died. Maybe he had brothers, sisters, a wife, kids?
Don't get me wrong, i'm not being emotional and all, but i've just been in reflection mode for the past couple of days. Reflecting about the things that are important in this world and the things that are not.
For example, as parents, we work so hard to make money to provide a better life for our kids, but the only thing that our kids want is for us to be with them. And then, we work an ungodly amount of time for our homes and cars for a good, comfortable, life only for it to be taken away at anytime.
Is our time being spent wisely?
On the news later on, i find out that he was driving recklessly on his motorcycle, weaving in and out of traffic. A cop saw him and he sped away....the report said that it was the speed that caused the fatal collision. The driver of the sedan had non life threatening injuries (thank god). The motorcyclist, about 20 years old, died from the collision. Was trying to avoid a ticket (or jail) worth the price? Later on, i joked with my husband and said something like, he may have escaped the cops, but he couldn't escape God.
Regardless of why/how he died. As a mother, I'd be devastated. It just makes me want to glue my son to my arms and never let go. Weird...now that i've had a baby, i'm all 'sensitive'...go figure
