Once, The Certainty

Once again, losing everything does not mean losing everything else. Yet that is often how we interpret life, reducing countless possibilities into a single certainty. In doing so, we forget what matters most. Life continues to move forward.

Whenever we find ourselves consumed by overwhelming depression, we arrive at a crossroads. One path tempts us to leave for the world we long for. The other asks us to keep breathing, to make peace with everything that has already happened, and to let it remain in the past.

Once again, the same question returns.

"What’s the point of living if we eventually die?"

It is an interesting question, but a misleading one. Life is not always about finding its conclusion. Sometimes it is about experiencing the journey while searching for its meaning. Even if we never find that meaning, why surrender when life still offers so much? Every moment of joy and every moment of pain are gifts in their own way, experiences worth appreciating simply by continuing to breathe. Giving up is a waste of the only life we know.

Once again, we are not meant to keep moving all the time. There are moments when we should stop, rest, and gather ourselves, without giving up entirely. The one thing that still keeps me moving is my breath, even if it is accompanied by the smoke I inhale, a slow poison finding its way through my body, gently lulling me to sleep with the hope that tomorrow will be kinder.

Move forward. Look back if you must. But never return.

Once again. Once again. And once again. Everything will end with the same certainty. Hold on until your time truly comes. It will not take forever, so spend the time you have while it is still yours. The end will arrive without greeting you. It will arrive without warning. It will arrive without ever reaching out.

Today, a stranger in an Alterra's broadcast left me with a simple sentence that has stayed with me,

“Even if it’s hard, at least finish today. Tomorrow will end too.” ─ Hah-san