Let us endeavour savour the moments that we are privileged to have, and share.
Let us spend them in the perpetual quest for our best selves. It is what we are here to do — each one of us. We are born innately growth-seeking.
As children striving for independence from our parents, finding our voices and screaming everyone’s eardrums out, running around and hiding in tiny spaces that none can reach. These seemingly simple, and natural milestones mark the rise of our individual suns.
As we begin to shine brighter, we break away from our mothers’ bosoms, we cut off the apron strings at some point, and establish our lives as independent adults. If we have warmly and brightly illuminated the world with our brightness, we get to our peak. This is a fluid Junction.
Arrival at it has no concrete timeline nor duration. For some, the sun peaks early on in life and remains at “high noon” much longer than for others. For others yet, it peaks much later on in life and may not seem to stop shining brightly…but it does stop as surely as it rises. For each of us. We are born, we rise and fade away — this is the immutable natural law of rhythm.
No one is to say which is better — an early rise marked by a long “high noon” or late rise follow by what seems like an eternity. Whatever the case, at some certain point, the sun must begin its decent…and the sky inevitably gets dark, ever so slowly.
For some, an alarm bell goes off to warn of the impending nightfall. These lucky few have disease while others have age to thank for that.
Trying, as it is wont to be, offers some semblance of an opportunity to put things in order. Semblance because like any alarm clock, not many like or enjoy its sound.
The sound is less palatable when it denotes life’s nightfall. This darkness brings with it the requirement for deep introspection for all involved. It calls for engagement with deeply buried emotional states that most would rather avoid for as long as possible because they are unknown and even incomprehensible mental states.
We don’t come built with the mettle to thrive in them. You see; the warmth and light of our sun are the nourishment for our souls. Without them, we grow cold from the depths our core — the part of us that radiates our energy to the world around us.
The part without, which we undeniably begin our descent to the end of our physical time here.
So live fully, while you still radiate light and warmth…and enjoy those who come to bask in your warmth. Be generous and share yourself with them. That they too may benefit from your being here.
However, remember to also be selfish. Do not give away all of your warmth to your work, friends, and even your family.
Make a best friend of yourself, and save a good portion of your warmth within, for you will need it as your sun sets. The evening of human life is rarely filled with life but with copious amounts of what can be unbearable solitude.
No matter your material and social accomplishments, society cares little about you at the dusk of life.
Instead, it quickly shifts its spotlight to celebrate the next star in line. The humbling experience of having to exit the pedestal is more palatable if we created a warm corner to sit at with dear ones to comfortably watch, admire and even encourage those that will shine after us.
Adapted from The Sky Gets Dark, Slowly by Zhou Daxin.
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