The Frailty of Life

I just heard about my cousin who was hit by a speeding car while he was crossing the road. He died instantly. He was 45.

Life is so very fragile and we just have no control over it. I imagine my cousin waking up this morning as usual, going about his daily routine. Leaving his home, in his mind's eye, the things he needs to do running through his mind and those he would do on his return, not realising that he would not be returning. I see him standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the right moment to cross the road. Perhaps he took a risk and decided to leg it. We all do it once in a while. Perhaps he waited until the road was clear. Either way, whether he was overly cautious or not, the result was the same. Death was waiting for him and it was his time.

How many times have I been so caught up in life, in getting to my next goal, in achieving more. How many times have I fretted about the apparent inadequacies that life supposedly threw at me, forgetting how close the end could be. We do not know when it will happen or how. How many breaths do we have left? They are numbered, you know. Not a breath more and not one less. An unknown constant that lingers in the background of a unique formula that belongs to every person, called life.

I wonder how my end will be. Where will I be? Will I be alone or will I have loved ones to see me off. Will it be sudden or will I be ready, prepared and in silent anticipation. Will I be accepting and happy or apprehensive and scared. Will I know or have an inkling or will it just take me by surprise. Will I be mourned and missed or will I just be a statistic. And when it happens, after it happens, what then. Will it be an afterlife of happiness or...

I pray that it is the former. I pray that I live my life now to its utmost for the promise of an everlasting elevation. I pray.

I pray for my cousin that he find peace and is at peace. I pray that I can meet him when my time comes in a better place, strifes no more.