2 Minutes

Source: Astrid Karsten | April 27, 2012

On the fourth of May, in the Netherlands we literally stand still for two minutes. No one will talk. No one will ask. No one will listen to music. No one will do what they were doing. Just for two minutes. To remember.

This reminisce may look like giving honor to soldiers and/or others who died at war. And it sure is a moment to sit back and think about  those who gave their lives for freedom. But it doesn't stop there. It will also give our nation two minutes to sit back and think about all minorities suffering from depression, violation and a thousand of other unequal treatments of those who are 'different' from others.

It may sound insignificant; two minutes. And then we go back to our lives and do whatever we did before.

But there is, in my opinion, a slight difference. There are several religions and beliefs that notice our own actions in a lifetime. They will resonate in our past, present and in eternity. This very simple, but also very true assumption, gives meaning to our two minutes of reminisce.

By sit back and think, remember and  sometimes grief, you will slightly change your actions in the future. You might want to think twice before judging others on the clothes they wear, the skin color they have, or their believes. You might open up a little more for those who are listening to alternative music, painters, writers, consultants, the poor and the rich. And most of all; you might consider yourself worth it. Just the way you are.

I'm actually quite proud that a small country, maybe insignificant to others, annually has one and the same moment to sit back and think. And at least makes his efforts to include everybody, trying to accept their relatives, inhabitants, just for who they are. In good and bad times, until eternity!

When will you take your two minutes?