Daring To Live
perhaps one of the most awe-inspiring attributes that we have is our ability to live despite fear
we go on from day to day thinking that we are immune to trauma
that we are not prone to disease
that cancer will never knock on our doors
that mental illness will never pay us a visit
that losing a limb
losing a breast
losing a mom
is not a loss we’ll ever know
that a car crash doesn’t know our name
that betrayal won’t slip into our rooms
that amidst one of the worst pandemics in the last decade
we will never lose anyone to a virus
that war will never come near us
that these are stories we hear about all the time
stories we shed tears over
stories we empathize with
stories we read about in novels
stories we binge movies on
but not our stories to tell
not our stories to live
they’re stories of other people
stories that might be very close to us
but far enough not to get near us
stories that we won’t be tested with because God knows we won’t be able to handle them as if those who did live these stories ever thought that they could carry them
and so when these stories do creep into our lives with no warning
we try to forcefully push them out
we sit in denial for days
weeks
years
we blame others
criticize ourselves
condemn God
when in reality
we were never immune to these tragedies
never protected
never saved
the very core element of being human is not being free from such stories
but creating life amidst them all
loving someone you know you may lose
laughing when you know you can be scared
following your dreams when you know they might hurt you
flying across the world when you know you might not make it
and daring to live in a world
that promises us
more death
than life