Today I heard an interview with a man from Japan who had been trapped in his car by the tsunami.  He nearly died.  As the interview went on I learned that he’d lost everything.   There were no details about what “everything” was but I think it may well have been every thing he owned.  The interviewer asked him how he was doing and he replied, “I’m alive.”

I’ve been alive long enough to have experienced a good many of the wide variety of things that a person can experience.  I’ve had my own tsunami-like experiences.  When I was in the midst of them I felt like my life might end and in some cases I wished it would end, but time passed and so did the unpleasantness.  Soon I found something to make me grateful to be alive again.  Here on the farm we have a whole universe of experience.  At the end of each day we are glad to have been alive to have experienced them.  Each day is a gift.  There may be tsunamis waiting around the corner for each of us but just focus on the day you’ve been gifted with and be glad you had a day to live through.

What touched me so much about the man being interviewed was that he was grateful to be alive and was wise enough to know that “alive”  has all sorts of possibilities.  After you’ve survived enough “tsunamis” you come to realize that “this too shall pass,” and more of life awaits on the other side.

It was wonderful to hear about how people were opening their homes to strangers who had lost their homes. In the midst of something horrific many great acts of compassion sprang forth.  There will be many heartwarming acts of kindness to accompany the tragic events as they pass into the realm of memory.  The goodness will soften the sadness, people will rebuild their lives and move on.

Today we had a good day.  We accomplished a lot of the tasks that were in front of us in the morning and settled in for the evening with a good deal of satisfaction.  I have no idea what tomorrow may bring but today was a day well-lived and I’m glad to be alive.