I tried to write about something other than the tragedies of the past few days, but I couldn’t. The stories of the Atlanta and Boulder killings grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. I don’t know what I can add to the continuous news of both of these mass murders. But no other subject seems worthy of my time, or yours. We cannot afford to let these latest tragedies take a back seat to anything else.

Some people are focusing on the gun control battle, using these latest tragedies as evidence that we need gun control to prevent these from happening. There are others who focus on mental health. Then there are those who espouse that hate crimes are the culprit. I believe the case can be made for all three schools of thought. What I do not agree with is making these tragedies a political statement. This is a public health crisis, and all of our country’s resources are needed to stop the madness.

The people who lost their lives recently at the hands of these killers started their day like many other days. They woke up, dressed, and went about their daily lives. They planned to come home at the end of the day. But that was not to be. Their innocent lives were snuffed out. Their families and loved ones are left to grieve their loss. Others of us are left to try to make sense of the senselessness.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that much of life is unpredictable. Things happen that we cannot plan for. There is so much that we cannot control. Our life can change on a dime.

But much of our life is predictable. We know that certain actions bring us joy, and other actions bring us pain. We know that if we keep doing the things that bring us pain, we will get more of what we do not want. We know that if we do more of what brings us joy, we will live a more fulfilled life. We know these truths, yet we do not always act on this knowledge. Then one day our time runs out.

In honor of those in Atlanta and Boulder, and too many before them, whose lives were snuffed out, let us take action. We owe it to them, and even more importantly, to ourselves, to be our best self, and to live our best life.

Before it is too late.