This week, for some odd reason, I have been playing on and on that old song from The Hobbit that Ed Sheeran sang: I See Fire. I just recently also watched the movie, and I sat there while the credits were rolling and the song was playing in the background. And it just stuck.
It is a very quiet song at the beginning. Not much goes on at the start (only, of course, Ed's great, soothing vocals and his wonderful guitar), but the lyrics and continual build up are powerful and resonate with the spirit of brotherhood.
You know, many people have put out videos and what-not about how 2016 was a terrible year. A year of disaster and heartache and disappointment and loss. But was it, really? I wish to differ.
The year 2016 was a a beautiful year. Yes, it was. It was a year in which we saw great environmental progress (the Paris Agreement), Ebola is practically gone from West Africa, people have been generous and friendly around the world towards humanitarian aid, and well, you and me are right here, right now, alive reading this.
Are there going to be terrible things happen every year? Of course, that's life. Imagine what the people thought about life when the Plague in Europe hit them many hundreds of years ago. That probably sucked for them. Or when the Egyptians had terrible droughts and had to relocate? Or the Crusades? Or WWI and WWII?
I am not trying to make anyone time in history more important or disastrous, but rather I wish to create perspective. If we realized how other people's problems are worse than ours, we wouldn't complain about our own. We have what we have, because that is what we have been given. But we were also given one other thing: Time.
We have the time to act and change our problems. We have the time to gain knowledge and help. We have the time to think and speak up. We have time, but it is limited.
So, like the song says, "...I see fire over the mountain side...", we are always going to be faced with the doom of our time, but we must not lose hope. We must stick together like brothers and keep going. We must gather our forces and power through. Only when you give up do you lose the power to change.
And "...If this is to end in fire, then we should all burn together" knowing we have given all of ourselves.
Have a great weekend everyone! Remember always we good, useful, and grateful. Dare to live each day like it was your last one :)
Be strong, be unique, and step outside of your comfort zone!