Sigh... Sigh... Sigh...
Like most of us, I've been following the devastion caused by the deadly cyclone that ravaged Yangon, Myanmar, the southeast Asian country, last weekend.
What a tragedy! Words simply cannot adequately describe how affecting it all is. According to UN estimates, some 62,000 people are dead, although it's believed that the number will climb as high as 100,000 once all the missing are found! 100,000 human beings - gone... just like that! Chilling!
And now there's news that the UN has halted aid to Myanmar after the military junta started seizing supplies, preventing those still alive, who really need the help from getting it.
As I sit here, in my apartment, opting to work from home today, casually eating my breakfast, catching up on my morning world news, I'm thankful to be able to live the life that I'm currently living, enjoying what seem like simplicities to me, but could be luxuries to others. Moments like these make me realize just how very little I have to be unhappy about, as my life could be far worse than it is now. Suddenly whatever personal "problems" that consumed my mind previously, all seem rather insignificant.
I'm sure eventually it'll all wash away, and I'll be back to my usual worrying self; so I guess the challenge is to find a way to maintain a certain level of constant awareness - one that keeps you focused on what's really important, instead of wasting precious time "sweating the small stuff" - and maybe it mostly is just "small stuff."
We are born; we live; we die. The only part that we have some control over is the part in the middle - the "living" part; so LIVE!
What a tragedy! Words simply cannot adequately describe how affecting it all is. According to UN estimates, some 62,000 people are dead, although it's believed that the number will climb as high as 100,000 once all the missing are found! 100,000 human beings - gone... just like that! Chilling!
And now there's news that the UN has halted aid to Myanmar after the military junta started seizing supplies, preventing those still alive, who really need the help from getting it.
As I sit here, in my apartment, opting to work from home today, casually eating my breakfast, catching up on my morning world news, I'm thankful to be able to live the life that I'm currently living, enjoying what seem like simplicities to me, but could be luxuries to others. Moments like these make me realize just how very little I have to be unhappy about, as my life could be far worse than it is now. Suddenly whatever personal "problems" that consumed my mind previously, all seem rather insignificant.
I'm sure eventually it'll all wash away, and I'll be back to my usual worrying self; so I guess the challenge is to find a way to maintain a certain level of constant awareness - one that keeps you focused on what's really important, instead of wasting precious time "sweating the small stuff" - and maybe it mostly is just "small stuff."
We are born; we live; we die. The only part that we have some control over is the part in the middle - the "living" part; so LIVE!
It all certainly makes you realise how precious life is and how fragile it can be.
I've recently taken up reading up on zen buddhism and, while I don't see myself being a fully fledge buddhist any time soon, there's certainly a lot to be learned about appreciating every moment, good and bad, and not worry unduly about things which aren't really that important in the grand scheme of things... oh, and remembering to be grateful for whatever it is you have, even if it's only a new breath.
I've always instinctively tried to adopt a 'zen' attitude to life but sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the frenzy of modern living - wanting, fretting, complaining.
So try not to let your renewed awareness and appreciation wash away, it'll keep you on an even keel and help you appreciate what you have rather than concentrate on what you imagine is lacking. In our modern civilisation, we've become a very ungrateful, restless, fretful and greedy society and things don't look as if they're getting any better.
It's just sad that it takes incidents of this proportion to remind us of the simple pleasures of life.
Yeah, what she said. I hear you, and truer words were never spoken. I'm right there with you dude.
Amen and Amen!!