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Death does not play favourites
Why your life is a gift to live fully now
News of the helicopter crash that killed NBA star Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter and 7 other passengers struck a deep chord. I am not a basketball fan. Other than Michael Jordan, Shaq O’Neil and the Harlem Globetrotters, I am pretty clueless in this area. However, loss is loss and the tragedy of those lives who will not get another day to follow a dream really hit home for me.
We often hear that “life is too short” yet we continue to live as if life is forever. This terrible event reminds us it is not. We are blessed with only a finite number of days or years and we get to choose how to spend them. None of us knows how long we have. I lament for a 13-year old daughter who will never do so much of what little girls dream about when they grow up. I weep for adults who were thriving in their careers who will never see the fruits of their labour. I cry for families who will no longer be able to hold the people they love and who will miss their presence.
Death never plays favourites and there is no amount of wealth, fame, power, status that will inoculate anyone from it. Life is an unfair crapshoot. We see the good die young, dictators who seem to life forever and the world still keeps on spinning. Our lives are not only marked by our choices but also the choices made…