Crowded House, one of my favourite bands, sang a song titled: “People are like suns.” They come and they go in the blink of an eye. They burn out in the sky. Neil Young sang, “It’s better to burn out than to rust”. The Buddhists say, “Everything eventually comes to an end”. So what is your philosophy? How do you deal with this reality?
I live in a transient society. People come and go. You make friends, and after a year or two, they leave. There isn’t something like a settled community here, where people own their property and make friends with the neighbours and go to church together…You never know who would be the next “victim” of a very immature, volatile, emotionally unintelligent person who believes that money can buy everything (people included). People are expendable. If you don’t like this one, you’ll find ten others waiting in line. Especially South Africans, since we are very popular, hard-working, pleasant people who honour our commitments. We are punctual. We are creative and have the ability to make do with very little. We solve problems. We get along with people. And, last but not least, we are the idiots that are willing to work for much less money than Europeans or Brits. We don’t have a powerful American Embassy that protect our rights.
Over the past nine years, I’ve seen so many stars burn out in the night. I think of all my friends who just disappeared…Shirley…Tina and Jean and the family…Corlia and her family…the list is very long. When I just arrived I met a woman in a shopping centre who said to me, “I’m not interested in making friends anymore because people just disappear”.
The thing that is most important in life (to me anyway) is closure. People appear and disappear, fine. One can accept that. What I can’t accept is when people briefly appear, and the finger that they poke through the smooth surface water of your life, the ripples that they make, cause a disturbance. And then, they just disappear again. And all you want is to understand a bit better. Know the reasons why? I always think of those poor mothers whose children just disappeared…how do you ever make peace with it? If there is a body, as terrible as it might be, there is closure. One needs to finish a chapter. To understand the reasons why things ended…
A friend of mine suffered a terrible tragedy a few years ago. Her beautiful, talented, well-loved daughter shot herself shortly before her 16th birthday. They were on their way to visit friends and stopped briefly along the way. She took the gun that was under the front seat, and killed herself while her parents were in the shop. No note. No explanation. How do you deal with it? No religion exists that would offer me an explanation. Don’t tell me it was “God’s will”. Don’t tell me that all things come to an end. Don’t tell me it was “karma”. Just give me a rational explanation. And then I can live with it….
I guess I want to say, since we live such fragile lives, we have to grab at any possible MOMENT of happiness that comes our way. Who knows what tomorrow brings. I’ve written about “Living in the Present Moment”. Grab hold of an opportunity to love! Shakespeare said “Drink life to the lees”. See the beauty in each moment. Appreciate your life. I’ve lost so many friends to unexpected disasters. Don’t walk around with grudges. Tell someone you love them. Go, do it now. People are like suns…they burn out in the sky.
In South Africa today security plays a vital part in any business or private home. This book and the volumes to follow, will guide you step by step through the essential precautionary measures to be taken in protecting your family and valuables. From employing security guards, evacuation of your site and security measures to burglar bars and alarms in your private home.
a Book compiled by me from experience gained after 10 years in the security industry as Industrial relations officer with Nosa qualifications, 1st Aid, fire protection and also S.O.B. grade A.
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