“Plane shot down”
When I woke up this morning the first thing I did was read a few pages of the book I’m reading. It’s called ‘Twenty-eight and a half wishes’. Not particularly well-written, but a great read anyway and (spoiler alert) it’s about a 24-yr old girl who has a vision of her own death happening in one weeks time. She makes a list of all the things she wants to do before she dies (28 1/2 of them)…and she gets busy doing them all.
Then I got up and found out about the plane that was shot down over the Ukraine and the 298 passengers and crew who died.
Instead of sitting glued to the TV to hear every detail I went out on the balcony and enjoyed the sun on my face, the sound of the birds, the slight breeze…and said a silent ‘thank you’ for today.
I’ve got no comment on the who, the what, the how, the what-should-happen-next, or the larger political implications of this event.
What I take away from it is yet another reminder to LIVE and that our time is not guaranteed. We will all die and many of us, like the passengers on that plane, will die in a way and at a time that we never saw coming and that we hadn’t prepared for. I wonder how they all spent what we now know was the last week of their lives…and wonder if they would have done things any differently in the last week if they knew their death was fast approaching.
We can’t ensure death doesn’t happen. Some people may decide never to fly Malaysian airlines again…or even never to fly again. But people die doing all sorts of things. Many that aren’t newsworthy at all. People die, like today, in the most seemingly tragic and random circumstances. But people die sitting on the toilet seat as a blood vessel pops in their brain, or from a heart attack as they chat to the plasterer working in their home (my dad). You can’t protect against death but…through ‘risk limitation’ you can prevent yourself from living.
What I take from today, and invite you to if you wish, is the huge reminder that death will come and that it is unpredictable. That we may very well not have the luxury of time…and that what you choose to do today is important, partly because you do not know if tomorrow is yours…until tomorrow arrives. If this was the last week of your life…what would you do differently? Because what if it is? Live like that and when death does come for you, whenever that might be, you’ll be a lot more ready to greet it.
As the character in my book was thinking this morning “I wondered why I never did these things before. Why I waited until the last few days of my life to feel pampered and beautiful. People tell themselves there’s plenty of time to do it all, but most of the time they never see death coming. I sat in the front seat of my rented convertible thinking of all the living I had left to do”.
Do your living now.
Kristie
xxx
{ 6 comments }
I do agree with Kirstie, that living for today is the best thing that we can do, and to stop worrying about tomorrow, to get on with our lives, and live them the best way possible, being with Family and Friends, going to work, try and enjoy it all, going on Holiday, as many times as you can afford, and taking time to relax, is important too,
I have problems in my health, and so does my Partner, and we both try and be positive. Some days it is really hard, as when my beautiful Dad was alive, he had Alzheimer’s, and it was heart breaking to see more near the end of his life him suffering, and he died only last June, I have been really sad and crying a lot, and thinking about all the things that happened in the last 9 years he had it, and it still breaks my heart, but I have to get on with my life and live it the best way I can, xx
Another totally true insight. Thank you Kristie. Not many people ( especially in our predominantly secular/ atheist culture) notice that “live passionately NOW – don’t waste a single second….. ” was a the principal subtext behind many ofJesus’ teachings. The parables are choc full of it.
Thanks Nick! Makes perfect sense that it would have been, doesn’t it? 🙂
Kristie
xx
Hi Anne,
Thanks for your comment. I love what you say about living the best way you can.
Here are a couple of blogs that I think might help you out when you’re thinking about your dad and the time leading up to his death and the suffering you saw:
http://kristiewest.com/2013/03/07/i-wish-they-hadnt-suffered-the-point-of-their-pain-yup-it-has-a-point/
…and..
http://kristiewest.com/2014/05/14/why-does-god-allow-pain-and-suffering/
Lots of love
Kristie
xx
hi kristie,
thanks for your writings,
actually on the day(night)before the plane tragedy,
i was grieving unconsolably about my mother,
and after hours of crying, i slept early morning to wake up around 9 Am.
with sadness still in my mind, i picked up the newspaper to divert my attention,
only to find the plane tragedy all over the front page.
immediately my sadness vanished , i somewhat felt peaceful.
why?
because the tragic news has taught me a lesson(of course written by you earlier)
that death is beyond our understanding,
when it comes, it will come.
i actually thought about these 200+ people,
who are they?
their race, religion, occupation etc.
all vanished in a moment,
what they would have thought about their life a moment earlier, a day or week.
its still confusing , but somewhat i feel like a door to understanding more about death
Thank you for sharing. 🙂
K
xx