“In the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, do you think there should be a national day of mourning?“ 

That was the daily poll on the Gather homepage today. I actually had the same conversation with my father last night. I thought I was strange for even questioning it. I didn’t feel as sad as I was supposed to be. It just seemed like the media was blowing the incident out of proportion.

I had no idea what to expect from my fellow Gatherers. For some reason I was nervous about answering the question. The poll is anonymous, so no one would know my answer but me. I guess that is the point though, I would know. 

I selected my answer and held my breath as I clicked submit. Anxiously, I waited to see if I was really being callous or if this was another example of the media manipulating Americans and working the nation into a pointless emotional frenzy.

Sixty-two percent of the Gatherers who took the poll answered no. I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t that crazy after all. 

Why do I feel this way? It comes down to two reasons really. There are mass murders around the world and tragic deaths everyday in America that we don’t even talk about.

More importantly, I think we are missing the point. I called the emotional frenzy pointless and I meant it. What we should take away from an event like this is the impermanent nature of human life. 

I am not trying to dismiss the loss of life. The Virginia Tech shootings were tragic, but unavoidable. In a situation like this, no security measure can stop one determined person with a death wish. The lesson is not to spend every moment taking precautions to avoid the inevitable but to enjoy every minute we have.

Today, I find myself thinking about the ways that I put my own life on hold, waiting for circumstances to change, waiting to find Mr. Right, waiting to be happy. 

There are many weeks I work a lot. Life becomes a blur of day to day, making it through to my day(s) off. During that time, I’m wound up, focused on work and not paying any thought to being happy. That can wait for later.

What if there isn’t a later?