It Can All Change In An Instant

I have been reflecting on a couple of the main stories that have been in the news lately and started to think about how things can change in an instant. Take Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 that just disappeared. How can an airliner with 239 people on board just disappear? This is the 21st century with all sorts of modern technology and equipment that makes this impossible, doesn’t it? And if you are one of those people who has a family member, friend, associate or colleague on that flight, how do you ever reconcile such an event? I can’t begin to imagine what it is like for all of the people who knew someone on that plane and the far-reaching effects that this incident has had on so many lives. I don’t personally know anyone remotely associated with someone on that plane and I know how I feel.

…live each day as if it were our last. We should always take care to treat others with dignity and respect and to let them know how much they are loved and how much they mean to us. We need to share our time and space in the best way that we know how.

Then there is the major crash that occurred a couple of nights ago between a FedEx vehicle and a tour bus carrying high school students on a visit to a college that they were interested in attending. The truck driver along with the bus driver, three chaperones and five students were killed in the fiery incident that burned some of the bodies beyond recognition. I can’t imagine if one of those killed was one of my family members. I can’t even begin to relate to how the other students on the same bus as well as two other buses that were on the same trip are feeling. And what about all of the other students from those schools who knew those who were involved, along with their families and friends?

So many lives from just these two incidents have been forever changed. In an instance, it doesn’t matter what any of those who lost their lives were planning to do today, tomorrow or any time in the future. It matters not what their hopes and dreams and goals were. The families of these people and their friends and associates are forever changed and all anyone can do is to think about what might have been if they were still among the living. For everyone left behind, they have lost a part of their hearts that can never be replaced. So many lives are forever changed.

This thinking has been a very jolting reminder about what really matters in this life. I can’t help but wonder whether those who will not be returning were told how much they were loved before they embarked on their journeys. I can’t help but think about the ones left behind who never had the chance to say goodbye. I contemplate the possibility that unkind words or arguments marred the last time that they were together. And how many will live the rest of their lives with the pain of knowing that they were never really willing to share with their loved ones the true way that they felt about them.

I guess the most important thing always takes us back to the same place and that is to live each day as if it were our last. We should always take care to treat others with dignity and respect and to let them know how much they are loved and how much they mean to us. We need to share our time and space in the best way that we know how. This is the only way that, if something happens to that person before we meet again, we will have no regrets for not having shared the time that we had together in the very best way that we could. And if, by chance, such a catastrophe ever happens in our lives and we have not treated the other person in the best way that we could, I hope that we learn the lesson to never allow that to happen again. After all, our voyage here always provides us with many opportunities to do something over and over until we get it right.