Blink of Life

Blink of Life

My mind often drifts back to that operating room. The ceiling lights above me felt like small suns too bright to stare at while the quiet movements of the doctors sounded like distant waves in a calm sea. I was lying there still and silent like a leaf floating on water letting the current decide where it would carry me.

In that fragile moment a thought quietly slipped into my mind.

Siguro kung moabot ang kamatayon murag usa ra ka iglap. A blink of an eye.

One moment you are here breathing thinking making plans for tomorrow. Then in a single heartbeat everything can fall silent like a candle gently blown out by the wind.

Didto ko naka-realize kung unsa ka mubo ang kinabuhi. The worries that once felt like mountains suddenly became grains of sand. Ang mga problema nga murag bug-at kaayo sauna karon mura nalang ug mga anino nga mawala kung mosubang na ang adlaw.

Life I realized is like morning dew resting on a blade of grass beautiful and shining for a moment but gone when the sunlight finally arrives.

Karun 28 days later dala-dala nako kana nga realization. Each day feels more precious like a sunrise that is never truly promised but freely given. Every breath feels like a quiet blessing.

Kay basin mao gyud ni ang tinuod sa kinabuhi

it is not meant to last forever

but meant to be lived loved and appreciated

before everything fades

murag usa ra ka pagpamilok sa mata. 

It’s been 28 days since my operation in the hospital and that memory lingers like a quiet echo in my mind.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  | Christian Jay S. Laya is the Senior Tourism Operations Officer and Municipal Information Officer of Alabel, Sarangani Province. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in History from Mindanao State University – General Santos City. He completed the academic requirements for the Master of Arts in Philippine Studies with a 1.25 GWA, and is currently pursuing a Master in Public Administration major in Local and Regional Governance Administration at the same university. He also completed non-degree programs on sustainable tourism development at the Asian Institute of Management. A writer and lensman, he is committed to advancing good governance, tourism, culture, and community development.