The Natural Order

One of the hard challenges of life is to remember that life ends. This year, I lost a friend to the coronavirus. He was just a few years younger than me and so full of life. He loved music , travel, meeting people, and sharing the collective stories of his journeys, until, all of a sudden, he couldn't breathe, and he died. Although it was a shock to me, it was also a stark reminder of this journey that we're on. Even the stars die eventually.

Dear reader, I don't mean to ruin your mood with dark thoughts. I am not suicidal nor am I ever capable of committing suicide. That would go against my greater nature , which is always to keep moving forward, no matter how dark things become. Truth be told, I have been through the long dark tunnel before. It seemed as if the years inside it were an endless purgatory, but I made it through by moving forward.

It's unfortunate that this picture represents the moment when there was no more motion for these young athletes. That was when the universe had its final say. The monument you see in the photo represents the spot where students from my university, who had been jogging along a country road in training for a major sports event, all of a sudden and out of nowhere, were plowed down by a truck that had lost control. The small figurine is a god that watches over the spirits of those lost souls.

It's a dark tale to be sure, but it also brings me back to the original idea that I started with. If we remember the natural order of things, then we have no choice but to wish those runners well as they embark upon the next stage of their journey.