the people of our lives

One day away from the glow of vacation in the Maldives. Life should be filled with the cheer of leaving my current life behind me, for a few days at least. But my heart is sad as my very close friend lost her mother and 5 relatives during a wedding celebration this past week. I felt lost when I first heard the news, it was 3pm my time but the middle of the night for all of you back home. The suddeness of how quickly life can change hit me like a wall of wind. I had just spoken to my friend the week before and she was complaining about heading back to Vancouver (again) for another blasted wedding. Well, of couse she was happy for her cousin, but her and I often have a laugh complaining about how we'll have to settle for an arranged marriage if we ever hope to get hitched. So you can imagine my horror when I heard the news. My heart is still broken for her. Her life has drasticially changed in just a flash of a second. It got me thinking (rare i know) about how unexpected life really is. It's like that saying that the only thing certain in life is death. As morbid as that sounds it really is the truth isn't it? Sometimes things happen in our lives, in our friends lives, that appear unfair and so unbeliveably cruel. But they do happen and they will continue to happen. There really isn't much we can do about it either.

What we can do is remind us of what is truly important in our lives. This may be very different from one person to the next, but one bridge exists. this seems to be that the people that make up our lives, truly do define our lives. I know this all sounds very cliche but often there is a reason why sayings become over used and it's because they are true, in whole or in part at least.

So, my older bro arrives first thing tomorrow morning, 5am, to be exact and while I'll have to pry myself out of bed, this time, it will be different. With the anticpation of spending 3 glorious days on one of the world's most acclaimed island resorts I am excited. But to be honest, my excitement comes from seeing my brother. For what I've realized being away all this time, it that its the sharing of these experiences that make them so memorable.

So, in parting I leave you with the words of "Shantaram" author david gregory roberts:

"Every human heartbeat, he’d said many times, is a universe of possibilities. And it seemed to me that I finally understood exactly what he’d meant. He’d been trying to tell me that every human will has the power to transform its fate. I’d always thought that fate was something unchangeable: fixed for every one of us at birth, and as constant as the circuit of stars. But I suddenly realised that life is stranger and more beautiful than that. The truth is that no matter what kind of game you find yourself in, no matter now good or bad the luck, you can change your life completely with a single thought or a single act of love"

Embrace your life and love your "people".
Amelia