A Moment Ago

We live moment to moment. Memories are the smiles, the laughter that we will never forget. Time is the companion at our side. We cherish those that we love, and the bonds of friendship breathe with a sigh of relief. Every moment is our definition, a fragment of what we will become. We just never see that moment, where everything changes, where we lose what we have, and where our lives may come to an end in a moment now gone.

It is a day like any other day. We stop for coffee as part of a morning routine before work. We hold the door open for a stranger, sharing generosity. A family decides to take a moment to enjoy laughter and smiles while eating their diner food. Bad news is washed away with a lucky draw, a special for the customer sitting at the counter. The sun is shining brightly outside, and today promises to be just another day. BANG. The thunder of bullets changes now, where nothing would ever be the same.

What would you do? What would you do on a day like any other day, where events go terribly wrong? Would you hide under the table, praying to be saved? Would you remain rooted in your seat, begging to live another day? Could you play hero and save those about to die? Time is gone. The moment is now. The gun is spinning around, and there is no more hesitation. BANG. BANG. BANG, and another falls down. What would you do?

We hear these terrible stories on the news. People at their breaking point wander in off the streets and walk into a public place. Everyone around them is living their own life. They are enjoying the moments before them, moments that are about to end. Senseless violence are the tears left in mourning, and there is no rationality, no reason because they were past the point of no return. They had nothing to live for, and they were not going down alone. And the news plays on; six innocent lives lost along with the gunman.

I see it on the road every day. We seem to be in a race against time. We can't stop, so we dive into the opposite traffic lane, ready to play chicken. We need to move, to speed, so we cut off our opposition. Sometimes, they're lucky and make it to the other side, and sometimes, they nearly crash and burn. Their life doesn't matter because they put it on the double yellow line along with our life. One wrong move, and we're slammed. There is no reason but one. They are in a race against time to get from point A to point B, but what about the rest of us, who are just trying to get home?

This world is tearing us down. We are trying to survive. The news is portraying our worst fears, and hope is sliding away like a tear racing down our face. We're circling the abyss, trying to hold on, but the ground is giving way. And we're falling down.

We're hoping for the moments, where we can live again. We're hoping to laugh and smile. We're waiting for love not loss. We want those days like any other day, where nothing could go wrong, but the days before us now are unpredictable, wild cards. We live moment to moment, hoping to just get by, but we're afraid to dream. We're afraid of hope. We're afraid of losing ourselves or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we can't stand still. We can't not hope. We live moment to moment, and those moments are now gone.

But we're still here. We're still holding on. Some are fighting for what they believe in. We can't allow ourselves to reach that point of no return, our breaking point, where we tear the world down. We can't give in to senseless violence, blind rage. We have to hold strong, find something to feed our faith, and give us a reason to continue on. Every moment counts. Every moment is a touch, a taste of life. Every moment becomes a fragment of our definition, who we are to become, and these moments must belong to us. And if the moment comes on a bright, sunny day like any other day, where we face our darkest moment, we have to hold on. We have to survive and pick up the pieces of a life left behind.