I meant to write a post about Sichuan Earthquake, and it’s such a shame that I hadn’t done so earlier. Almost a month and a half after the disaster, I still feel very strongly about sharing my thoughts with you. So here I am, finally typing my thoughts down.
I was in China at that time, and being in the country where the tragedy that killed nearly 70,000 people took place, really made me see humanity from a whole new perspective.
There was a 3-day period of national mourning. And that means there were no forms of any entertainment whatsoever allowed during that period. I couldn’t even watch CNN nor other international channels at that time, everything was blocked. There were only domestic broadcasts, with 24-7 report on Sichuan & the quake relief. The more I became aware of it, the more my heart fell for them. I shed tears in front of the telly, it really broke my heart to see so many people in such deep pain & terrible grief, and to know how many more lives are lost in the hope of rescuing others. And it was then that I really came to believe that there is still hope in humanity.
I saw how human being is capable of giving so unselfishly to others; capable of loving so unconditionally; and capable of taking actions as someone with full integrity. I saw HUMANITY at its best light!
There were teachers who sacrificed their own lives to save their students, teachers who ran back to search for their students, only to die as the school buildings collapsed seconds later. There were soldiers who worked non-stop for days walking through mountains and forests, rescuing people’s lives, then came back carrying injured people on their back walking for days more, going through the most difficult areas. There were doctors who stayed awake for days, with swollen & bleeding feet, and still did not waste any second saving lives. There was a female security officer who breast-fed 9 orphan babies, while leaving her own child with rice milk. There was even this one nurse who overworked herself treating people to the point that she collapsed and her heart stopped beating after several attempts of rescue–leaving her husband and 5-year old son there just crying there in shock, calling her names out loud. Mothers on the other parts of the country put themselves on a list, waiting to adopt the children who lost their parents in the earthquake.
There were just too many heartening sights I can’t describe and too many heroic stories I can’t tell one by one. But the point is: human beings are really capable of loving and doing great things for others! And we too, should be of no exception!
Having seen how all that we’ve worked for, and all the things that we thought was REAL could all be gone in few seconds, really had me rethinking of what really matters most in life. When we are stripped of all wealth and possessions, what is it that is left in us? All we have is LOVE.
Share as much love as you can in this lifetime; Leave all the judgments & vanity behind. Appreciate great hearts more than anything; SEE THROUGH people, and see ONLY the best in everyone around you. Let us be better human beings!
Love, and only love, is the secret of life.
PS: Just so you know, the boy in the 1st picture finally made it! He just celebrated his 17th b’day 