Tragic

I have just heard of the tragedy that has befallen an old engineering school friend who is currently in the US: over the last weekend his wife and two children (aged 4 yrs and 18 months) perished in a house fire. The news is shocking, and I can only imagine how devastated he himself must be.

The incident just brings into sharp focus the transient nature, and the inherent and utter unpredictability, of life. One wonders, in moments like these, whether it makes any real sense to live for the future. How many of us do exactly that and fail to live in the present. And before we know it, life's gone...poof...just like that. Every thing that you had looked forward to, everything that you had planned for, all dreams and aspirations, and for some, all reason to live - all gone.

I myself am guilty of living for the future far too often. While it is important that we keep the future in mind and to make all necessary investments in our family, our health, our financial well being, our social security, and our planet and environs, this should not be done at the cost of the present. We must remember that tomorrow never comes. Living only for tomorrow is not really living at all - it is existing in the vain hope that one will live tomorrow.

Unfortunately many people fail to draw a balance between living for the moment and living for the future - they either live too much in the present with the result that their future (and that of their near and dear ones) is devastated. Some others live too much for the future, and as a result they are never fully satisfied, and perhaps depart this earth still longing for more. Those who can find the optimal balance between the two often live the most fulfilling lives.

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