As I watched this video, chills ran up and down my spine at the realization of how terrified and brave those people who lived through Pearl Harbor must have been. Watching it, I kept being reminded of the shock, horror, and helplessness we all felt as we watched the Twin Towers fall on 9/11.
Today — in honor of those brave, unfortunate souls who died at Pearl Harbor, let us try to live in the now.
Sadly, one of the few times we are totally present and living in the moment is when we are in the midst of tragedy — an accident, a war, or in the way of a hurricane, or other natural disaster. Suddenly we stop with all the mindless, idle gossiping and distracting chitchat, and we focus on the here and now. In the midst of an urgent emergency, we instantaneously stop worrying about tomorrow or yesterday, and we focus on getting through this moment, of living to tell, and helping those in need. We become larger than ourselves as we find the strength and courage to do what we have to do. We have to think on our feet, stop obsessing over everything, and act calmly and swiftly. During these moments, angels, those who have crossed over, and spirit guides rush by our sides to instruct and assist us.
What are a few of the things these tragic moments in life are trying to reveal to you?
1) It can show you an inner strength you never knew you had.
2) It can reveal a strong will to live. If you have been depressed and miserable, this strong will to live can come as quite a wake-up call.
3) It can awaken your Collective Consciousness and your love for humanity, as you work to help those in need, momentarily forgetting whatever worries and concerns had just been on your mind.
4) It can bring you to a state of gratitude for what you still have, and for what you were able to accomplish.
5) It can bring you to your knees and remind you to let go and let God. You are not in control of anything. Relinquish that illusion and learn to face the true nature of life — it is fragile, and precious, and a journey into the unknown. You are asked to be careful and cautious and then leave it in the hands of God and karma and go in peace.
Most of all it can remind you to live in the now. That is all you ever have — this moment, nothing more, nothing less. Yesterday is gone. Life gives you no guarantees. You may or may not have a tomorrow. So make the best of today.
On this cold, December, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, let us stop with all the worrying about tomorrow. Stop saying, “What if this happens, or what if that happens.” Let me be brutally frank with you today, and remind you that you are never going to see many of the things that are going to hit you. None of us would have guessed in our wildest imagination that one day planes would come and hit and destroy the World Trade Center, nor did the soldiers stationed at Pearl Harbor realize that the planes they saw approaching were enemy ones until it was too late.
Perhaps, if we do live in the now, do pay attention to what is happening all around us, in our world and the world at large, we can prevent these same kind of man made disasters from happening in the future. But that demands we take care of the issues that are on our plates today, and not hide our heads in the sand, vainly hoping that what needs taking care of today will somehow take care of itself tomorrow.
Stop living in the past and playing hindsight quarterback, and saying, “If only I had done this, or if only I hadn’t done that.” Learn from the mistakes of the past, forgive yourself and others, and get on with your life.
Live for today. What is your mission today? What is it that God expects from you right now? Then go do it, and let tomorrow take care of itself, and let bygones be bygones.
Please say a prayer for all the souls lost on that tragic, December day. Not just for the American souls, but for the souls of the Japanese soldiers as well. We are all one, always have been and always will be all children of the same God.
As a side note: Today is my oldest brother’s 60th birthday. Frank is a gifted artist, sculptor, writer, and musician, a virtual Renaissance man. He is the father of my beloved nephew, Myles. Myles asked me what he could get for his father for his birthday. In keeping with my philosophy that the best gifts we can give others is a gift of ourselves, gifts from the heart, I told him to buy his father a bottle of red wine and go to Vermont and spend some time with him.
Happy Birthday, Frank, and be grateful you weren’t a girl, because remember what our mother used to tell you all the time, “If you had been a girl, we would have had to name you Pearl.” I always wondered if Harbor would have been his middle name!