These shootings.  Instead of Random Acts of Kindness being in the forefront of our lives, it seems to be just the opposite.

And now, we have all these politicians making an even more malevolent situation out of something tragic in its own right.  Does it make you feel more or less safe to have our elected leaders, bickering and blaming one another for this senseless act?

How safe do you feel every day?  Are you always slightly “on scan”?  Now, all the normal places we frequent; restaurants, shopping centers, grocery store parking lots, college campuses, churches—all these places have established “heightened security”. Has it helped you feel more of a sense of safety?

OR…

Does life feel more fragile than ever to you?   In the grander scheme of life, I believe there is a message being sent to all of us, one that is literally and vividly drawn out as a reminder.  One that we need to pay attention to.

But, first……

Just the other day, I had a chills-down-the-spine “reminder”of my own.  My husband, often comes home during the day to work from our house.  Last week, he was upstairs, on the phone, as I was leaving to go to an appointment.  When I got in my car, I noticed something moving out of the corner of my eye. It was a flash—was it the head of a man, ducking down beside my husband’s car?  If so, he was in our garage.  Was I seeing things? OMG!

I backed out of the garage, like a cannon blast and pulled my car behind my husband’s to see if what I thought I saw was really what I saw. Yes, OMG!, OMG! There he was—looking like anyone we would see walking through our neighborhood—only now he was exactly where he should NOT be.  Crouched and bouncing as if he were ready to spring into action.

At the same time, I tried to reach my husband on the phone—no luck—his call must be important. The persnickety horn on my racy, little car wouldn’t even squeak.  No time to dial 911… for, in that instant, BLAMMO!…the man jumped on, then over, the hood of my car, and took off running, around the corner and out of sight.  I will never forget the eye contact we made, feral and wild-eyed, three feet from one another—with only the windshield to separate us.  At first, I thought he was leaping AT me, crashing through the windshield—to attack me.  And, there I sat,  in my car, only fifteen feet below the window my husband was sitting next to, chatting away.

This insane instant of ‘holy-shit-ness” electrified my every cell, creating that effect of a rubberband in time, stretching the nano-seconds into something more, then snapping back to NOW, as he was making his get-away.  The truth was…..the whole thing, lasted no more than two heart beats, and he was gone. Poof…over.

But, hey, this is life in the big city…right?  We are getting used to these Law & Order moments, check? Nothing actually happened, right?  So no biggie. And, afterall, I was running late.  As I drove on to my appointment, (never having reached my husband) out of breath, with heart pounding, shaking like a leaf—this cyrstal clear waterfall of thoughts rolled through me. 

Thoughts One-Four, gasping for air—-We are not safe ANYWHERE!  We are certainly NOT in control, like we think we are.  That nano-moment could have changed the trajectory of my life forever. Life is so very fragile.

Thought Five, catching my breath—What if I had not noticed this guy and had gone on my merry way, putting the garage door down, literally locking him IN my house  with my husband totally unaware, engrossed in busines as usual?  Oh dear God, my imagination did not want to make that trip.

Thought Six, with tears—If that sunny afternoon, would have been our last interaction, would my husband and I have left one another on a loving note?  We usually make a point of telling one another that we love each other when we get off a phone call or as we leave the house, headed in different directions..  We usually have, at least, an eye contact moment or a wave , or a “peck” of appreciation before our goodbyes.  It’s one of the things I love most about US.  That day, though, I was running late and he was on the phone, barely acknowledging my presence in the house with him. A throw-away moment could have landed on the big billboard of life.

Now…

The recent events in Arizona brought this day back into sharper focus.  As always, in any type of chill-bump moment, I look for the lesson.  What sense can be made of these seemingly utterly senseles random acts of violence?  Is there a take-away for the rest of us? What can WE do in times like these which can render us feeling utterly helpless to do anything at all?  How can we restore our own equilibrium and find our faith?  At times when the score of the Rat Race seems to be:  Rats, 4     The Rest of Us, 1—-how do we believe deeply in the goodness of our human race in general? 

My first suggestion is: DON”T TURN ON THE NEWS.   Until you have a chance to collect your own thoughts and reactions, it just creates more unease, dis-ease, discord,  and propels a sense of helplessness in the face of such horrific tragedy.  The news is not just the facts any more, but warring factions that find new ways to rip at one another and create needless drama that only drains us of  the very life force we need to refuel. What good are they doing? 

So, Take-Away #1.  

It makes it even more incumbent upon us to find our own truth and take healing and corrective action in our own lives.  When are absolutely clear about who we are, why we are here and how to go about manifesting our deepest purpose in life—-we will have peace.  It will be quiet and powerful and constant.  It will make us feel safe within.  The boat can rock.  The world can go completely nuts and we will weather all of it.  Safely.

Take-Away #2

Life IS fragile.  We need to treat it that way.   Think of the ways we will go out of our way to protect and care for something we value.  Like a new car.  We park it in Tim-Buk-Too, to make sure no one dings it.  We put a family  christening gown behind glass and frame it to keep it safe, forever. We treat the things we value most with great tenderness and attention, don’t we?

Yet, day in and day out, do we treat one another with the same kind of care and attention?  Do we mouth off, saying things we don’t mean or blow one another off, all together?  What if our last day was spent on the sofa, ignoring our husband or wife because “Shhhhhhhh!! I am watching this show (or football game)!”  And, then we dismissively waved them away as they went out to a movie….or to a political rally for “just an hour or so”?  In those cavalier moments, we tempt fate.

What if we spent as much time taking “care” of our own lives as we spend watching “the reality” of others?  What if we knew, for sure,  that if TODAY was IT, we would have left our  personal world and the world “out there”, better off?  What if we knew, we have consistently known and shown love, in all it’s forms to those around us? Wouldn’t this give us an inner calm, a safety that no one, or no act, could take away?  Tragedies, like those of 911, and the Arizona shootings, Columbine and Virginia Tech—are our wake up calls—calls to action, imploring us to re-action with love and kindness and clarity of purpose.