mortality

I had a clear sense of what to write about today when I was on board a bus commuting to work this morning….. mortality.

Not only because to day is All Saints Day in the Philippines, when most of us make our way to the cemeteries to light up candles and lay down flowers to our dearly departed loved ones, but because I bled this morning.

Oh, don’t worry, it wasn’t near anything serious.  But it made me see enough blood to make me realize that life is indeed unpredictable, no matter how much we think or we seem to have control over it.

While comfortably seated, I decided to move to the window side to avoid being disturbed by a passenger who may want a seat next to me.  To my dumbest of luck, as I leaned on the backrest of the three-seater bench using my elbow, I got pinched by something I had accidentally forced my weight to.  I did not know what punctured the flesh near my elbow, but it was not too big to hurt too much, nor was it too small to be ignored.

I was thinking, if it was a nail and had rust on it, tough luck! I tried cautiously finding the source of the triangle- shaped puncture wound, but couldn’t.  Least I could do was warn the girls who climbed up and sat next to me. I decided to stay where I was, regardless of the inconvenient pose (being on the aisle).

Looking to the tissue I was holding with spots of my blood oh-so-red on it, I began to think….it could all end here.  Not to be pessimistic, but no one knows when they will meet their end. It can be now as you read (just kidding!).  Seriously, I have lost some loved ones, some of which I can’t seem to find acceptance that easy in more ways than one.  I feel like I could have done something better to make life easy on them, just as one of my favorite songs would go… ”I feel like I’ve been cheated, ‘cause we never said goodbye…”

Truth is, life could slip away that easy that we have to savor every moment of it.  Our lives are as petty as it is so valuable. We are mere beings who are vulnerable to fate and yet have the power to create our own destiny and legacy.

I may be am just me, but I am somebody to somebody.  It is sad to think that when my time comes to go and after a couple of years or so, I’ll be just like anybody to every body….dead.

So, if you have something you wanna do, do it now.  Someone you want to say something to, say it now.  Life is too precious to be wasted on regrets and plans and wishes. 

Carpe Diem!