I have said it before and will say it again.  Life is fragile.  It can be snuffed out in a moment.  Cherish what you have and live for today.

As you can probably guess, I have found out that an ex-work colleague was killed in tragic circumstances last week.  He was younger than me with a loving wife and 4 children.  This is the point where people often say (or write), “he didn’t deserve to die”.  I find that statement offensive because it implies that some other people do deserve to die.

Death is inevitable and we all face it.  There are close family and friends, acquaintances, connections through friends as well as those we ‘know’ only through the media.  It is important to acknowledge the passing of anyone but it must be appropriate to the level of connection or we will find ourselves overwhelmed and consumed by grief.

This also applies to people who are gravely ill or facing a diagnosis which provides an uncertain future at best.

A friend’s elderly mother is hovering between life and death after a nasty fall.  A well-known media personality is said to be gravely ill with possibly only days to live.  Another friend’s mother has received a diagnosis of cancer.  Each of these impacts on me and I am saddened but I need to process the information appropriately.  I have not met any of these people directly but I can support my friends with messages and perhaps phone calls.

Life and death goes on every day and it is possible to receive almost instantaneous updates on everything via Facebook, email, Twitter and so on.  In order to maintain your strength and resilience you need to take some time-out and recharge your emotional batteries.  In the current time of being constantly connected it can be difficult to step away from the never-ending bombardment of information.

Your emotional well is not infinite.  Top it up.  Take care of yourself and you will be able to provide an appropriate level of support to those you care for when they need it most.