OK, so I do not generally keep up with current affairs as I am far too busy to get too involved in any of the drama and bad news. However, I was on the phone to the brother-in-law late last night; He lives in Florida. We got talking about the movie ‘Dark Knight’ as the kids are away tonight on a sleepover. When the kids are away, the adults play so off we go to watch this much awaited (by tloml, NOT I hasten to add, by my good self!) film. We have even watched the first two films in the days running up to this very night. 😀
Well, back to my original thoughts…
It is pretty horrid to read the stories in the news about this sad event, isn’t it? I mean, most of these people woke up in the morning not realising that this could be their very last day. I am told one of them was celebrating a birthday as well. And then think of the six-year-old. I still cannot understand why she was there anyway but hey, who am I to judge?
It is all pretty terrible. It is the kind of thing that joins a town in mourning and even a nation. What makes someone studying for a PhD wake up one morning and decide he was going to kill a whole load of people for no apparent reason? How can such coldness creep over a heart? How can you inflict such pain on other people?
These are questions I will probably never know the answer to? As there is just no just cause for acting in this way, is there?
Babe Ruth – No…
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Living Despite Fear
Listening to the radio earlier on my way out of the art gallery with the children, a man was speaking on the Jeremy Vine Show. The topic was this shooting. The guy is asked if he will still go and see ‘Dark Knight’ movie and he stated categorically that YES he would. He would even take his child as he would not allow this maniac to be the determinant of his decisions. I agreed with him wholeheartedly.
People wake up and do crazy things like this fairly regularly on this planet. I still vividly remember my mother being beaten black and blue by armed robbers in the middle of the night. I still remember trying to stand up for my siblings and being whacked in the face, just for being there. Fear creeps into one’s heart when faced by such crazed violence.
But these examples are extreme ones; what of being laughed at by a class full of kids for pronouncing something wrong? what of being bullied by a husband who undermines you at every turn? Again, these examples are things that actually happen and can be allowed to cause a lifetime of fear.
What of the fears in your imagination? The fear of what could happen if you did something a little bit new. What of your fears for your children and their future? You might even fear the impact you have on them. You plan for worst case scenarios all the time. Or you bury your head in the sand and try to remain unnoticed by the powers that will produce these awful imagined scenarios. I know of these fears because I live them from time to time. They can stifle you and they are not even real.
Whatever the root cause of our fears, we have to look beyond ourselves to the person we aspire to become. Forget all those people who would try to keep us down or scare us and focus on those who will build us up. Focus on putting ourselves in a place of strength, courage and determination.
Let us remember that every day we are granted life on this planet is a blessing and we must live deliberately to fully appreciate it. Lets never let the crazy shooters win.
