While I am at a stage in my life when I am looking at the “why” and the “how” of events that take place, the past week has been nothing short of content for this chapter.

A week ago I was dealing with an attempted armed robbery at a friend’s house, in which the domestic worker was assaulted, and fairly badly beaten, but most of all, traumatised; five days later, I was at a bachelorette party in the Eastern Cape in which I spent most of the evening doubled over I was laughing so much at what was going on around me.  Talk about a 180 degree turn.

The week has been such a reminder to me, that life is a continuous yin and yang.  There is lightness and there is darkness, there is laughter, and there is terror, there are friends, and there are foes.  Such is the nature of the life we lead today.
 
I have also been witness to the strength of an individual, the same said domestic worker, who has risen above the situation; been thankful that she was not more seriously harmed, and grateful for her job, and for her salary.  So too, have I seen the immense joy that one can have with like-minded individuals who are genuinely happy for another’s happiness and who want to “go out and celebrate” the fact that jubilation in the form of a good union of individuals is around, and soon to acuminate in a wedding.
 
When one is faced with the possibility of a fatal gun wound, you realise life is short; when one is faced with a lifetime of commitment to another person, you realise life can be long, and you need to do whatever you can to make that union as happy as possible “until death you do part”.
 
One needs to tread carefully, however, in both situations.  My view is that the lesson is a simple one:  take care of yourself and protect yourself as best you can from harm, and from strangers who are on a mission of destruction; and when the shoe is on the other foot, it is time to go out of your way to protect another from harm, and from any strangers on a mission of destruction.

The more my days progress, the more I realise that the road of life can indeed be long, make the most of the minutes and miles in which one is doubled over in laughter mode – whether you are laughing at yourself, or with someone else.