Never more so are we reminded of how fragile life can be following the events of Friday evening in Paris. 129 lives ended simply because they were out enjoying themselves but happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a time of reflection and as I took my fingers off the keyboard at 11am to observe the minute’s silence in my local Cafe Nero this morning, I thought, not only of those who lost their lives in Paris, but also of how lucky I am. I was appalled that despite being told about this moment of respect by the manager, there were still some people who continued their conversations in complete ignorance. Clearly these people could not bear to give up one minute of their precious coffee time to reflect on something that didn’t affect them.
Except that it did affect them, it affected all of us because we are all vulnerable to this underlying evil that is creeping it’s way into our society. Equally, we are all affected by tragedy in some way or other in our daily lives and this alone should give us pause for reflection and thanks for our own health and good fortune.
I just found out that someone I know is waiting for test results to confirm or otherwise the tumours she just had removed. I also have a dear friend who has reached the stage in an illness where modern medicine can no longer help. It reminds me of when my dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma and the doctors told him that there was no cure and that chemotherapy was useless on this type of cancer. How do you come to terms with that information? I thought about how deeply depressed my dad was after his diagnosis and wondered how my friend will react.
This, along with the weekend’s events give me cause to be thankful and they also remind me that life is short and you need to make the most of it. It reminds me to stop moaning at the little things and it keeps me focused on my goals, to keep me pushing ahead with what I want to achieve in my life and to be the best person I can be along the way.
So as I went back to my typing, the words flowed and I realised I was working towards my dreams. Half way through November, I have put over 27,000 words down on virtual paper and this is half way towards the beginnings of a novel. Add that to the other manuscript I’ve been working on and that’s two potential books that one day might just see the light of day. I know now that I have to make this happen somehow and I will. For all the people whose lives are cut short unnecessarily by illness or other terrible means, the rest of us owe it to them to live positive, happy lives that we get as much out of as we possibly can.
Sharing this for What I’m Writing.
Thank you for reminding me that it is in my hands and mine alone to make things happen for me. Sometimes I forget this and get morose that nothing is happening. Life is tragically short for some folk and we should embrace every second of it, something I sometimes forget to do. Congrats on doing so well with NaNoWriMo as well – it’s not gone well for me, I really should have done some planning!
We all need to remind ourselves of this now and again. Sometimes it takes something big to do it though.
The horrific events of Friday certainly made me realise how fortunate I am. I was in a big shopping centre for the minutes silence and found it very moving how everyone just came to a halt and stood there. I think it’s made many people take stock. So glad to hear nano is going well for you – 27000 words is brilliant! I totally believe you’ll publish those books one day. Just keep going! Thanks for linking to #WhatImWriting
Gratitude for what we have is certainly easy to bypass in our everyday life, its the reason why I started my gratitude journal! It often takes events such as Paris to bring us back to earth with the fragility of our lives. I think it is great to use that as a motivation to press on in achieving your goals and dreams. It sounds life you are doing an amazing job with your writing, well done 🙂
A gratitude journal is a great idea, I like that.
Thanks for writing this. A tough week indeed. I can’t stop thinking about it. Then news from Mali too. How best to respond on a world level? I’m heartbroken. I can’t find the words to write myself but I’m heartened by the candles my blogging friends are lighting by way of tributes. Thanks for doing this and well done on chsnneling some positive energy despite all this too x
I know, it seems like there is something every day now.
It is strange how some people just can’t see beyond their own bubble – even when tragedy strikes so close to home. The events of last week have certainly given me pause, and helped me refocus on the things in my life that really are important. It is sad that it should take something so dreadful to remind us how precious life is, but at least carrying that forward is some kind of tribute to those who are no longer able to follow their dreams. Well done on your amazing progress with NaNo – I hope the rest of this week has been just as productive xx