3.5 Minutes

In June, 2009 AirFrance Flight 447 fell out of the sky and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.  France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis has stated that it fell from 38,000 feet in three and a half minutes. That's 10,000 feet per minute.

A minute can be a long time.

60 seconds.

Watch a clock tick for 60 seconds and see how long it is.

I believe that in the experience of all of those people aboard that flight, that it was very likely the longest three and half minutes and simultaneously the shortest three and a half minutes of their lives. They had to have known... falling at 10,000 feet per minute. What were they thinking? What did they do?
Our truest colors show through in the most difficult times.

What would you think or do in that circumstance? If you were on that plane... if you knew that your life was about to end and there was nothing you could do to stop it. If you knew the lives of others around you were ending... what would you do? Three and a half minutes.

I believe, if there were a loved one sitting next to me, that I would hold them tightly and tell them how much I loved them. If I were seated by a stranger, I would hold their hand, if they wanted it. I would think prayers and thoughts of love to all those who mean the world to me. I would probably watch, as I would very likely be seated by the window, in hopes that somehow it would work out.  Disbelief. 

The truth is that we are all in that position, constantly, though undoubtedly not as tragically. The minutes of our lives are unknown, and they tick away incessantly. There may be mere moments left to us, 3 minutes or 3 billion minutes. Does it make it any less valuable if you have more of it? No. Are you making every minute count? Do your loved ones know how much they mean to you?

Would you leave it unsaid or undone?