The Awful Pain of Survival

That was the headline on the front page of the Toronto Star but it was not the headline but the photo of an unknown to me Mother holding the lifeless, plastic wrapped body of her daughter after the tragic earthquake in China and reading on to learn the story of 34yr old Zhu Rong who in one brief moment lost both his parents and his 4yr old son when the school he attended kindergarden in collapsed, that brought the uncontrolable tears of grief and guilt streaming down my face in the public library.

"Being in the moment". I try to live in it every moment of every day so........

It is unimaginable to me to believe that in a moment you can lose all that you hold dear to an event that is beyond your control. Even more, it is unfathomable to me how you can go on bearing such pain and devastation of body, mind and spirit.

I cringe every time one of my children walks out the door, rides their bike or these days wants to assert their Independence and head out to the park or the library on their own. We don't like to live in fear but things do happen.

It seems so unfair to realize that in one fleeting moment so many innocent lives where cut short due to no negligence or undo diligence of their own. It is also hard to comprehend that some of these people lost their only child as China adheres to a one child policy. Why? Why? This is a question I believe can never be answered, but must be asked?

What can we do?
We can make a monetary donation and let it go...
We can offer our compassion and sympathy.....
We can pray on their behalf, that the death toll doesn't rise and that the support, kindness and effort of others helps them to rebuild their homes, their lives, their spirits....

What we must do is "LIVE".

No one knows what lies ahead of them moment to moment. It is in times like these that we should see we are obligated to live in gratitude for all we have, for all those we love, live and laugh with everyday! We must remember that love is eternally free and it is ours to give.

To those in China who have lost so deeply, I offer my deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences and am grateful that the lesson of learning to truly live, here , now, today has been shown to me once again.......

Namaste