How Fast Life Can Change

I've been following the writing of a new "Head First" book (see Head First Java for a great example of the series) on Calculus. This morning, I read about the author's loss of his 6 year old daughter. He has been writing an online journal to Elena. The writing on that journal is some of the most touching, deeply personal and phenomenal expression of humanity that I've read in ages.

It's a truly humbling experience to witness such tremendous loss in another human being. It's so easy to let your scale shift to a place where mundane frustrations fill our views. So easy to act as though our problems are actually critical. We need to include the genuine tragedies and triumphs in our scale. Only when loss of a job or other frustration is placed on the spectrum with the deep loss that comes from losing a loved one can we have a perspective that goes beyond the self-absorbed to being truly empathetic.

Dan my thoughts are with you and your family in this time of loss.