There is no cure for birth or death save to enjoy the interval.
-- George Santayana

Unfortunately for some, the interval often seems to be filled with obstacles, pains, failures and disappointments and is quite difficult to enjoy.

Strangely, for others, the same interval is filled with laughter, happiness, joy, success, and tranquility.

Obviously, there are some things over which we have no control, as the hurricanes of 2005 taught us. Yet, even in the midst of all that pain and suffering, there were tales of heroism and simple kindness to remind us that no matter what, there are men and women who can and will decide to find the goodness that all of us have hidden within.

In Iraq, while soldiers and insurgents die encoiled in their opposing webs of politics, strategy and religion, babies are born, children sing songs, and young couples pledge their troth in ancient rituals and some less ancient.

Yes, we have no control over some things. We may have no control over the parents who raised us, the genes we inherited, the place in which we live, the masters who control our lives, but we do have control over one thing...all that resides within our hearts and minds.

We can choose to let our thoughts be governed and guided by those who seem to have selected themselves for that job, or we can choose to think the thoughts that we believe must be thought. We can turn inward and ignore the others with whom we share this planet, or we can "...take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing in them...", but not in the way that Shakespeare meant.

The world will not be a happier place for all until we learn to make it so. We cannot afford to wait for "someone" to make the world a better place. Each of us must be the instrument of change. If we are to change the world, we must start with the thought that we must give the children a better place in which to live and better lives to live.

Each of us is but a tiny flame beneath the Sun, but each of us is strong enough to light the small corner of the world in which we find ourselves. If enough of us choose to do so, the interval between birth and death will be a finer place for all.