Muslim extremists murder a dozen people at a French magazine office. A father throws his five year old off a bridge. Boko Haram kills over 2000 people and burns an entire town to the ground. A jet crashes, taking all passengers with it. A family’s plane crashes, killing everyone except their young girl, who manages to find her way to a nearby house. A five year old was killed in a random accident with a lunchroom table. 2015 seems to be off to a rather depressing start.
It’s enough to make me want to gather my family near, give them a big hug, and thank God I’ve been given another week with them.
Even without all the nastiness in the world, life is fragile. We Americans like to think we can legislate away pain, suffering, and death, but we’ve only gotten a little better at postponing it. Even then, something totally unexpected can happen at any time. It’s human nature to take things for granted. Heck, it’s impossible to function without taking things for granted. The trick is to spend at least some time regularly appreciating the things that matter most.
Let me just say that I have an awesome family. These people are my world. I don’t appreciate them as much as I should, but I do appreciate them. They’ve become such an integral part of my life that I’m not sure I could recognize my life without them. It was hard enough a few years ago when they went on vacation for a month without me. I still could talk to them, still got email from them. I could hop on a plane and be with them within hours. If I truly lost them I’m not sure what I would do. I’m not sure who I would be.
If you’ve got loved ones close by, take a few moments to really enjoy them. I suspect 2015 won’t always be this depressing, but we should still appreciate what we’ve got while we’ve still got it.
*HUG* <3