Spinning On That Dizzy Edge
(The Cure – Just Like Heaven)

I can’t recall how many times I could have been removed from this world and yet somehow I managed to avoid the universe’s extinction agenda.

There was that time when I was about 6 yrs old and my parents let me go out into the backyard during a thunderstorm so I could splash around in the giant puddle underneath our big tree. I’m not sure if the thought ever crossed their mind that lighting + water + big tree = crispy-fried-Khiem. I know it never crossed mine.

Then there was that time I went to a birthday party and nearly drowned in the deep end of that unsupervised swimming pool. As I was standing on the bottom of that pool looking up at my friends frantically trying to figure out what to do, I was calm. I pushed myself back up to the surface and began to swim to the side of the pool. I never learned to swim, I still don’t know how to swim, but I don’t think my mind would ever let me drown.

It’s amazing how our survival instincts work. It’s because of this strong force that keeps me afloat, that I can’t help but wonder why people quit on life. When does life become so unbearable that you stop trying to save yourself? I’d like to think that if I ever got to that point, that someone else would try to save me.

Would you save me from unbearable perils?