JJ: QOTD

From Laurence Sunderland, Father of Abby, the teen who is attempting to set a record sailing around the world:

"Sailing and life in general is dangerous. Teenagers drive cars. Does that mean teenagers shouldn't drive a car?" Laurence Sunderland told the AP. "I think people who hold that opinion have lost their zeal for life. They're living in a cotton-wool tunnel to make everything safe."

I say "AMEN!" Western civilization is way too preoccupied with safety and seems to cling to the notion that death can be legislated out of existence. Life without some risk is not living, the mere act of being alive is risky.

And yeah, I am one of those anarchists that feel like when your time is up, it's up, regardless of what you do or don't do. Why do I feel this way? Years of observation . . .

I've seen obese smokers live happily into their nineties and folks who were fanatical on health, diet and fitness keel over dead in their thirties. I've seen cautious people injured because they were too cautious and other die because they weren't cautious enough.

I think the case that really illustrates my point took place a couple of years ago in Great Britain, when a fit young man who delighted in free-climbing anything high and vertical made his hazardous way to the top of a rocky spire one beautiful sunny day. On top, he sat down to admire the view -- and was struck dead by a bolt of lightning out of the cloudless sky. His time was up.

The news is full of close calls and tragedies. Paying attention to the details in them makes you realize what a thin line there is between living and dying, often a matter of inches and seconds.

And to me, that motto below is not morbid, it is a reminder to live life to the fullest and be ready to go. "Remember that you WILL die." And it might be today . . .

"Memento mori"

(Me)