News of two distinct events came into sharp focus in the last few hours that serve as a start reminder that life can change in an instant.
The first involves a young man, the son of a friend of our family, who had a motorcycle accident, in a distant country where he just moved to with his partner. He’s survived the accident, and is in an induced coma for the last few days, and will likely be kept so until the swelling in his brain subsides. His brother has flown to be with him and deal with the inevitable paperwork that accompanies any incident. The life he had planned with his beloved now hangs by a thread, and his aged parents are understandably distraught.
The other involves a close friend who decided he’s had enough of his job, and quit. He told his team about his decision, and it’s left them all distraught – he was/is a true leader, and has likely kept the people who work with/for him together, despite the opportunities for better pay that beckoned. The glue that bound them all together doesn’t exist anymore, and the opportunities they saw collectively don’t seem so attractive either.
In both situations, there’s more than just the individual affected in far more ways than come to mind immediately. Everything is connected: people make plans that involve other people – family, friends, colleagues – based on things taken for granted. When those plans go awry because the underpinning assumptions no longer hold, the outlook suddenly turns bleak.
In both situations, the clouds will pass. While the hurt and pain and heartache and difficulties remain, Life goes on. It always does.