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