While watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (for the nth time) I learned something from Optimus Prime.  Which part in particular? During his fight with Megatron, Grindor, and Starscream.

Sam is human. Optimus is a transformer. Their culture, race, and even their planet are not the same. But yet, Optimus gave his life to save Sam. And even when he was dying, all he could think of was still Sam. I wouldn’t say that Optimus protected Sam out of love. He protected Sam not for selfish reasons but for something much more. *you’d have to watch the movie and know the story for you to get my drift*

We protect our own. We protect those we love. We protect those who are important to us. We protect those who are weak. We protect those who needs our protection. And it’s not just people who needs protecting, I’m talking about everything and everyone around us. Regardless of ethnicity, race, form, religion, and etc.

I’m not a saint. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a soft spot for pedophiles and the likes of them. And they don’t need protection. It’s the other way around.

So what have I learned? Read above. 🙂

No matter how much we say that we are in control, the truth is, we are not. There’s something bigger than us. Call it fate. Call Him God. Call it forces of nature. But never call it “ME”. Time is not on our side.
We do not know for certain what will happen the next day. We can’t even guess what will happen in an hour. We can make plans for the next 20 or 30 years but it will remain as plans. That is a fact. We should learn to accept that.
I have accepted that fact.
Everyday, I say I LOVE YOU at least 20 times. Be it over the phone, via SMS, online chat, email, and etc. Before ending a chat conversation with my sisters, we always say I LOVE YOU. Before ending a phone conversation with my family, we always say I LOVE YOU. When our daughter wakes up, we tell her WE LOVE HER after greeting her good morning. When I message my friends, I tell them I LOVE THEM. Those are just some instances… And I truly think I’m not saying it enough. I should say it more.
We might think that there’s no need to say it. We might think that they already know. But saying “might” doesn’t make it a fact. And we “might” regret not saying it out loud. The last thing that I want to happen is regretting not saying it. Because the time that I have on my side is NOW. And NOW is the only TIME that I can tell them that I LOVE THEM. 
I dare you to say it at least 20 times a day (and MEAN IT!).
I wake up everyday knowing that I am loved. And I sleep knowing that I am still loved. But most importantly, no matter what happens, I know that those I love know just how much I love them.

Regardless of religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, culture, nationality, age—we all feel (the same) pain. When someone we know is hurting, don’t downplay their pain by telling them that other people are experiencing greater pain. It isn’t right. Comfort them if you must but don’t belittle their feelings.