The Green Cursor

Life is a race.  The moment the sperm and the egg unite, the fertilized egg never stops multiplying, as it is given a timeframe of only nine months to prepare the fetus for birth, ready to live outside the comfort of its mother’s womb.  As the baby is delivered, it grows so fast that after a year, or even less, it has learned how to laugh, talk and to walk.  This makes you wonder why the baby is such in a hurry to grow up.  Some parents will want their babies to stay young and cute forever.  But such will not be the case, as each individual is tasked to fulfill a mission on earth within a given period of time.

The race continues as the child starts its quest for knowledge, interaction and fulfillment of its goals.  You want to be ahead of life.  Destiny is not your cup of tea.  It is for the frail, weak and faint hearted.  Your primal instincts tell you to fight lest you want to be eliminated from the pack.  Competition sets in.  There’s a frantic rush to outdo yourself through the dictates of your family, environment and your inner soul.  It’s the quest for self-fulfillment, of pride and of being somebody to be looked upon by your peers.

Ah, it is nice to savor the fountain of youth.  It brings with it the charms, challenges and recklessness of life.  You are at your prime and no one dared to question your will, strength and capacity to endure pain.  It seems that you can take on everything life has to offer.  You live your life as if there’s no tomorrow.  You treat your body, as if it were made of steel, to endless bouts of merry making, booze and late night outs.  Who cares about physical fitness?  You recover as fast as you can say “Good Morning” the following day.  As they say, “You can be young only once.”  Enjoy it, and live it to the fullest. 

As you reach however four decades of life on earth, things begin to head southward.  Your reflexes, strength and recovery do not seem to be as they were before.  Your health also seems to be not as good.  Then, as you browse through the nooks and crevices to find some answers, you stumble upon an old buddy just waiting for you to reach out – running.  There seems to be an instant connection, an outright appreciation and a sense of belonging.  You feel revived, rejuvenated and exhilarated.  You say to yourself, “Why didn’t I meet you sooner?”

You are now the best of friends, and nobody will be able to separate you from the comfort of each other’s embrace.  The sunset beckons ahead but you feel relaxed and confident as ever.  Together, you continue the race of life towards the finish, determined and never wanting to look back.  You strive hard.  You pour in valuable time, effort and resources to finish it in the best way you can.  Life is short, and you will never run this race again.