Some Thoughts on the Paris attack

At around 9PM Pacific time, my sister texted me about the terrorist attack in Paris on November 13th. I was there for a little over a week in September and it is a city that I look at with only fond memories so I immediately jumped to my feet and check CNN for the latest news on the incident.  I still cannot believe that with all its beauties and wonderful history, Paris is now on an alert mode for terrorist activities once again.

The Paris police force stated there were 128 victims confirmed dead in the event and the toll might increase.  During my stay in Paris, I was living ten minutes from the attacked area so when I heard the news, it felt personal as if it was my own town as I got to know Paris well during my trip there.  Then more news rolled out and many tourist sites in Paris were targeted as well; for instance, a few restaurants in the 10th district and a soccer game had suicide bombing.

One dead victim was student from California State University, Long Beach where I attended college. If the event occurred two months ago, I might have been that CSULB student or other victims in the vicinity. I wonder if that would change me, if I would be the same person, if I would be changed forever, and if I would experience any traumatic mental problem because of the event.  I told my sister that I was in the area two months ago for my vacation and she told me that I should count myself lucky to not have gone through the tragedy.

Life is unpredictable and we can never know what to expect from it.  The audience in the Bacalan theater did not expect that an armed man would march in and started shooting anyone he encountered. No one expected the suicide bombings would occur at a soccer match north of Paris. None of the incidents were expected and that made the events more horrific and painful to think about.  Anger and maybe hatred can be felt by the injured and the world but I think feeling that way will lead to no where, we cannot bring the dead back, we cannot undo the event, we cannot stop the terrorists from performing their act, but we have total control over our reaction to it. Anger and hatred will lead to no where, forgiveness will. When we forgive, we acknowledge what happened, we see it for what it is, and we move on.  When we forgive and move on, the world seems brighter and the future is more possible to deal with. But it is only an if, and that if is always up to us.