#970 in a blink

One of the digital highway signs warns: "In the blink of an eye, you could die."  I'm sure it is meant as a deterrent to texting while driving, but it is a sobering thought none the less.

It seemed an apt topic for today's blog as the news in our region yesterday was that a private school in our conference is becoming a branch campus of the University of Iowa.  Apparently the majority of those at the school learned about it just before the press conference, turning their world upside down.  There are far more questions than answers at this point regarding just about everything.  In the blink of an eye, their stability was rocked to the core.

And I'm sure for those in the Northeast, it took more than a minute, but not much more, to turn their productive world into a standstill due to the snow.  My sister lost power at 9:00 last night, so in that moment the "let's-have-fun-burrowed-up-inside" changed focus to "how-can-we-save-our-food-and-our-heat."  The world is very different with no electricity.  So much for being productive or content on the extra day off.

Permanent change can happen in a minute too.  I have been touched by four deaths already in 2015, two of whom were going about their daily routine when stricken with a heart attack.  For their families, everything changed so suddenly.  Those who had just gathered from out of state for the holidays were back together, only this time for much more somber reasons.

We can't live life with a shadow hanging over us, waiting for fate to taunt us with trouble.  But we can't take the good things for granted either.  Try to appreciate the ordinary, the routine, and the same old same old.  There truly are times when "nothing happened today" is a welcome outcome.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
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