When all you can do isn't enough.......

This past Wednesday was one of the most surreal, gut wrenching days I have spent in a very long time. Because I am a male and required to watch the weather at all times I knew what was coming toward us. Tornado's were on the way and it wasn't if they hit us but where and when. Then the reports started about Mississippi and then the poor people in Alabama. They all had plenty of time to prepare. The hardest hit had between 30 and 60 minutes to seek shelter.

And yet 300 people were killed by one of the worst twisters in history. That begs the question I posed earlier: What if you do all that you can do and it still isn't enough? What if you get to that room or basement and the whole house becomes a Frisbee? What if you leave the area to avoid the storm and drive right into a larger, more deadly one? What if you played by the rules, worked hard and made a life for yourself and it is all blown away before your eyes?

How many people in Japan woke up expecting to die in an earthquake or tsunami? In Haiti? The twin towers on 9/11? I'm guessing not one single person. And of the thousands of those people I would also guess some were very well prepared for anything they could think of. And still it wasn't enough to keep them safe or even alive. How much more could they have done?

Most likely the answer is nothing. Perhaps the only thing they could have done is the same thing all of us should do. Hug your spouse everyday and tell them how much you love them. Hug your kids the same way. Treat your friendships with care and don't take them for granted. Try and be helping influence on people you meet without being judgemental. Work to the best of your ability at everything you do. Try and make the world a better place when you leave than it was before you arrived. None of this will protect any of us but it does insure that when the time comes for you to go you will do so with very little regret.

In a perfect world we would all get a chance to say the things we want to say to the people we care about before they pass on. The world is not perfect in that way. We don't have that luxury very often. But before death grabs us we can make sure we have said all there is to say. Could anyone give a better gift to someone they care about than the peace of mind knowing they were loved? If there is one I haven't heard of it. The one thing Wednesday proved is the Boy Scouts had it right: Be Prepared.

Till next.....