[Another rambling post] ...What can we do?

The major earthquake in Japan has once again humbled and reminded us how powerful Mother Nature is and how little we as humans can do to prevent it but to slowly recover it, one life at a time. It is a devastating event, for the Japanese people but also for all of us as citizens of the globe. However, I am amazed at how resilient and calm looking the Japaneses look on the news. I suppose it is the fact that most of them have experienced earthquakes once or twice in their lives, undergo earthquake drills, and to some extent it has become a part of their lives. Us, as Vancouverites, I fear, are not as experienced nor possess the calming nature of the Japanese people. I doubt that most of the buildings in the Lower Mainland are equipped to handle major earthquakes, am fairly certain Richmond will be crushed, swept away, and became a distant memory. When will it happen? Does it matter? Where will I be then?

Why is it happening? There are scientific reasons behind an earthquake, but to me, it's all about karma. I am not saying the Japanese people did this to themselves, heck no, I am saying we as humans have done enough destructions on this planet that perhaps it is just time for Mother Nature to respond. Right now, one natural disaster takes place one after another (Haiti, Iceland, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, and now Japan), but what if two disasters strike at once, or three, or more!? Do we have the resources or power to save everyone? I do not think so.

I am a pessimist and a believer of the "doomsday" in 2012 (not so much Y2K because we can easily turn the computers off for that, no?). I think it's not just a coincidence that ancient cultures somehow all agree on the year 2012, and with the string of disasters happening nowadays, I have no doubt it will happen.

As I think about my mother, myself, my family in Taiwan, my friends all over, I do not know what I can do to save the people most valuable to me. But then I think about life and death. Death to all of us will happen someday, the only difference is will we be of a young or old age? A slow or quick death? Then there are the things we go through between birth and death - survival. If I survive today, will I survive tomorrow? All of these thoughts occur to me at least once a day when I am faced with situations and view them from a life-and-death perspective, but more so for the last two days.

Either I will survive or not. That is all. And if I die, I die. It is a part of life. And life will go on.

PS - God bless Japan, a beautiful nation and its proud people.

PPS - Finished my CPR-C / Emergency First Aid training this afternoon. It was more useful than I imagined.