Life Is Precious, Fragile, & Short

I'm noticing that, more and more, I'm not getting less and less attention to this blog.  Just as well--we live in a world of instant gratification.  I've lived just long enough to understand that it wasn't always this way, but I'm still young enough to not curse it and just shrug my shoulders and say, "It is what it is".  Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are cornering the market on public sharing.

I still refuse to participate in this instant social media world.  I like my (relative) anonymity.  And I like that I'm not obsessively checking my phone or iPad, wasting time.  Because time is precious.  And we all need to realize this.

A couple of years ago, a relative died from a heart attack--at the age of 42.  This relative's immediate family lived overseas for a long time, and I rarely saw them, so we weren't close.  However, his death was still tragic..and unexpected.  42 is only 6 1/2 years away for me (gulp!).  Then a few days ago, I learned that a family friend, someone who I knew as a casual acquaintance, but his mother was very close to mine, died suddenly while taking a shower--at the age of 54.

Lesson to take away from all this--those 2 men could be any of us.  We never know when the breath we take will be our last, or maybe worse, we never know the moment anyone we love will be called home. What to do?  Well, some people are still looking for the fountain of youth.  The fast pace of this world allows us to be bombarded with messages of "buy this" or "exercise like crazy" to prolong your youth, so that you might live longer.  Who knows if that'll work?  We hear of healthy people having fatal strokes or heart attacks, too.  I'm all for taking care of your skin and body, but not for the purpose of prolonging youth, and not for the purpose of staving off death.  No one can do that.  Just God.

I'm into eating healthy and working out, but not because I believe I can stave off death this way.  It's because, as long as I live (however long that may be), I want to be in the best shape and mood to enjoy it.  Also, have a better attitude.  I'm so guilty of saying, "I got this, great.  Now I want that".  Prime example is Coachella.  I was so bummed about missing out on it this year.  I tortured myself with extensively looking at photos online, but that's not what I should've done.  I should've been happy for my friends who did get to go, then reminded myself of what fun concerts I did go to (like Lady Gaga at Staples Center, when I sat thisclose to Gwen Stefani).  Besides, if I'm lucky enough to be alive, then there's always next year or other music festivals.

Even if going to Coachella 2015 does not come to fruition, and I'm still alive, I'll still have many things to be grateful for.  And even if I'm not alive, if I'm in Heaven with God, I'm sure I'll be happy.  Who knows?  Maybe life up there will be much happier and more fun than life on this earth.  We won't know unless we experience it for ourselves.  It's not like the angels can tweet about it.