A Changed World

Yesterday morning as I headed out to run amidst the rain, I felt like I wanted to snuggle back into bed and just enjoy sleeping through the rain. Then I turned on the news to watch while I run and saw the devastation in Japan. It's heartbreaking, but at the same time it is also a humbling experience. It reminds us how fragile our lives are.

Lives could change in matter of minutes. No matter how much you anticipate it, prepare for it, you can never be sufficiently prepared.
Who would imagine that this seemingly harmless "water" could suddenly rise up so high that it would topple buildings, pass the barriers and tumble down upon houses, obliviating all in its path and leaving nothing but a pile of debris and mud. A newspaper today showed a cruise ship balanced ontop of a two or three storey building. It's not architecturally constructed, yet it happens in real life like it were showing off the force of nature.

And so with this giant of an earthquake in Japan, many lives have been changed forever. Families have been lost, children orphaned, and the elderly separated. Hundreds of thousands are now suddenly homeless and many more are trapped beneath the rubble. News of survivors continues to give us hope.

The world is forever changed after this earthquake. The newspaper today said the earth moved 10cm in its axis, but that's not what I'm really talking about.

I think the world now will be one that is much more understanding and helpful to each other. Japan has been recieving help from countries near and far and everyone is putting in a helping hand. Afterall, it's not a matter of what country you are from, what nationality you are, but the fact that we are all human beings on this earth. If we don't help each other who will? So in the bigger scheme of things, lets all put aside differences. In the end, it won't really matter at all. We might just all be carried off in one monstrous wave that wipes out the entire mankind. We are that fragile. Yes we are.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eggs for Easter

Happy Easter! Its Easter Monday today and eggs are in fashion. Okay, in Thailand we don't have the whole big Easter vacation with easter eggs and egg hunting, but its something I always liked as a child growing up in europe. We get to eat chocolate easter eggs and get our hands dirty painting them...ahh, those good old days. What about eating eggs then? Are they good for you given that they are high in saturated fat and cholesterol (211mg versus daily recommendation of 300mg) ? According to nutrition data, a large egg has only 70 calories and are filled with lots of nutrients. Eggs are a good source of Riboflavin, Vitamin B12 and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Protein and Selenium. These nutrients are especially beneficial for you as they a good source of energy, help build up your immune system and also help your mental health. According to Harvard Health, "Eggs are also a good source of choline, which has been linked with preserving memory, and lutein and zea...
Read more

It's all in your Mind

For everything we want to achieve in life, I think the most important factor to its successful achievement depends on our ability to control how we think and keep ourself motivated. When I first started out running, I was so unfit I could hardly run for 1 minute.  I gasped for breath and my face would turn completely red.  My stomach and chest would feel a pain and a little voice inside my head would start telling me to stop running and just walk!   The little voice would get louder and LOUDER the longer I ran.  It would tell me all sorts of things, such as "You've done enough running, you've done a great job, just stop and walk."    Sometimes it would say "Your chest hurts and your stomach is having stitches, something must be wrong.. therefore STOP!"   On other occasions it would tell me the time and say "You are running late today, cut your workout short.  You have a long day ahead, save your energy." At times, it would tell me, "I hate thi...
Read more

One for All and All for One

The other day I got this fascinating Forward from a friend about decision making. It tells the story of a group of children playing on railroad tracks. One child is playing alone on the unused railroad track, while five children are playing on the active rail. Suddenly, a rain is spotted on the tracks heading straight towards the five children. You have to decide what to do. 1) Do you divert the train onto the unused track to save five children while sacrificing the lone child on the other track? or 2) Would you let the train continue on its path towards the group of five children? What would you do? Most people would in an instant answer that they would sacrifice the lone child to save the group of five children. Sacrifice one in the name of saving many. It's the rational and logical solution. It's for the better "good" of society. One death is better than five. However, there is more. There is a dilemma. The great critic Leo Velski Julian (do you know ...
Read more