Scary Uncertainties

“Shivani passed away last night” read a text in my phone. I froze. I switched off the phone and turned it on again, as if it was some fault which might go away. But the message was still staring at me in my office WhatsApp group. I still couldn’t move. I called my colleague (sender of the message) and she confirmed the news.

I wasn’t devastated, just shocked and scared. Shivani wasn’t a good friend but she was an acquaintance. Someone I met and talked to daily, mostly office stuff but daily. She was fine yesterday, just complained of slight headache. According to her family, she even cooked dinner and then she slept and never woke up. Probably, heart attack, everyone is saying.

Is that possible? I am thinking, she was running marathon, just a few weeks ago. She was fond of cooking and was planning to give up the job to start her own business. Her younger son is hardly 12-13 years old, he needs his mother. The more I think about it, the more I am scared.

We plan our days, weeks, even our retirements and go nuts if a small dinner plan goes wrong. We never stop to think, there is an end approaching, which might be unplanned. These incidents remind us of the uncertainties of life that we are too busy to think about.

Life is uncertain. All we have is this moment, let’s make the best of it.