One day, I was sitting on a wooden bench under a chesa tree talking with my cousins. We were reminiscing about the good old days when a bottle of soft drink costs only 25 centavos instead of 10 pesos. Suddenly, a gust of strong wind blew, making the dust swirl around us. I started sneezing and my cousins laughed while one commented that I don't seem to have outgrown my allergies. I laughed with them and then stood up to go inside my house. As I did so, a dry, brown leaf fell right in front of my face. It hang right there, suspended in mid-air, turning and twirling as if challenging me to make a comment. I stood mesmerized for a moment, all sounds of laughter and chatter receding into the background. I raised my eyes and realized that the leaf hangs on a silken web shot with rainbow color as sunlight hits it at a certain angle. And amidst the inane jokes being thrown back and forth all around me, I fell into a profound pattern of thought regarding growing old and dying.
This leaf has served its purpose. It has produced chlorophyll to feed the tree. It has stood by its duty rain or shine. It has weathered all sorts of challenges- storms, insects, the hot sun, strong winds, children who shake the branches for beetles. And now, it hangs suspended, dry and brittle, waiting for the web to break and drop it to the ground. And then, it will just be another leaf to be swept and burned.
Human life runs along a parallel line. We are born; we mature and serve our purpose. We have children, we raise and nurture them, give them the best of what's in us. We experience trials and adversities, the storms of life buffet us. But we stand firm, our eyes and hearts focused on one thing - to see our children through.
And after our job is done, what is left? Do we just wait for the silken web of life to break? Do we allow ourselves to hang suspended until it is time for our earthly bodies to become fodder for the worms?
I have met many senior citizens who have expressed the sad sentiment of just waiting for death to come and claim them. Many have struggled against loneliness after their children have left to live their own lives. Some have lamented this notion that they have outlived their usefulness.
At this point in time the difference between a leaf and a human life should start. A leaf falls off from the tree and is nothing. But a person, whose youth and beauty may have faded, whose children must already have left the nest, who are in their 50's, 60's or even 70's - this is just your second wind to start a new adventure.
What is the average lifespan of man? 60? 65? If God has granted you life after that, He must have done so for a purpose. Your duty is to find that purpose and fulfill it.
Dear friends, there is no retirement from life. While there is breath left in your body, there is that chance to embark on some new adventure, to do some good and make a difference. Don't hang suspended like that leaf. Utilize the years you have left to make a mark, to do the things you have always wanted to do but never had the time or the opportunity. Today is yours. Take it.
And for those of us, who have reached mid life and are still in the middle of the race, let us remember that life for us has become shorter. Let us not live the same day twice. So that if today, we die, it wouldn't be with regrets that we could have done more with our lives.
