My pain is not unique...

Sometimes it is easy for me to fall into my pain and sadness and think that I am the only one who has ever felt such pain. I was in the store today, in the clearance section and there was a little boy baby book...I saw it and thought to myself, "I will never be able to fill one of those for Mateo. He will never have firsts, or memories, or needs. He won't ever take a step, or fall down. He won't ever have pictures, or hair cuts."

Then, standing in the store, I had to remind myself that my path is not the same as others. Maybe I won't ever raise my son, but there are others who have lost their children also. There are those who have lost their spouses, their friends, their parents, their siblings. Think of all the families of soldiers who have given their lives for our country, the innocent lives that have been lost to war, or famine, or greed, or hate or anger. What about all the fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, who never came home on September 11, 2001. No, I may feel like this pain has never been felt, or that no one knows what I am going through, but sadly, that is not the case.

We all have to face loss, we all have to face pain...we grieve family members who pass, whether they pass of old age, or if they die tragically, way too soon. We have to face death on a daily basis, in the news, in our own lives, and in the lives of others close to us.

So what does this mean for me? Does it take away my pain? No, and it won't take anyone else's pain either, but it reminds me that life is so very short. We never know when our moment will come, or how. So if I am going to live, really live my life, today is all I have. For some this may be scary, it can cause people to be afraid and to stop living their life, out of the fear that tomorrow may never come. Or, it can bring a healthy dose of reality and remind us that this moment is all we have and we have to make the most of it...or whatever time we have on this earth, will be wasted...

I love the lines of the song, "Wasted" by Carrie Underwood:


'Cause I don't wanna spend my life jaded, waiting
To wake up one day and find
That I've let all these years go by...
Wasted

Oh I don't wanna keep on wishing, missing
The still of the morning, the color of the night
I ain't spending no more time...
Wasted