The caterpillar and the butterfly

So how did that happen? It's the end of July already and this is only my second blog entry for 2011!

If there's anything that 2011 has shown me so far, it's the fragility of life combined with the strength of spirit. For many people I know it has been a tough year. Even this week, a family I know have suffered the loss of their teenage daughter to cancer. So very heartbreaking and tragic and yet I know in years to come they will be comforted by her smile and particularly her fortitude.

Also this week, I found out that an ex-work colleague had died. I knew she'd been fighting breast cancer for a few years. In the end though she fell down the stairs and died from the resulting head injury. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason and no sense.

I saw this quote a few weeks ago and thought it was a beautiful slant on the fragility of life: "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly".

My faith cannot explain tragedies or losses. It cannot explain why, in Norway, someone would instigate two attacks on innocent people in a day, killing over 80 people. I have to allow myself to question but also to trust in God's love. A love that allows us free will and choice, a love that doesn't smother but a love that sets us free and allows us to be more of ourselves. In return, I will strive to make the most of every day - to focus on the important things in life rather than the passing material things or the things I have no control over.

In the meantime, who knows what is around the corner? But I hope to face each corner or bend in the road with strength, fortitude and faith, no matter how challenging. Life is fragile but it is also filled with excitement and amazing people. I also need to remember that it's worth taking a few risks in life - give it a go. If it doesn't work out, you'll get by but if you don't even try, you'll never get there.