THE SIZE OF A LIFETIME When we become conscious for the first time ever we are allotted a window that is only as long and as wide as the length and breadth of our lives. Through this window we are only able to view that part of life within its frame; we cannot see what came before and we will never see what comes after. What came before us lays the foundation upon which we place our lives, and how we change it during our lifetime may make a difference to those who come behind and it may not matter at all. The point is, life may as well have started only the moment we were born, and end the moment we die, for it’s only that window we have for the duration of our personal lifetime that we are able to work with. All these windows to so many lives opening and closing like the eyes of an age-old dinosaur: People coming, eyes wide, seeing through intangible glass for the first time, now just a babe, ever-aging second by second. People going, eyes shut forever, window busted, some old, some new, some anywhere in between, never able to age again. I’ve been looking through my own personal window now for nearly 55 years. I’ve seen many mornings, mountains, lakes, and seas, so many evening, Januarys, shady trees, and running springs. I’ve watched at least ten US presidents come to office, age, and fade away. Their windows, like all the other windows that belong to those around me, overlap my own, yet their view is far different from mine. Getting nearer the end of the transom via age alone I keep my eyes wide open. I can’t afford to miss a thing. Soon it will be over. Once shut, the window is closed forever. |