Thoughts...

Imagine yourself walking along the shoreline in the middle of the night. The air is cold and you only hear snippets of conversation from afar. You look at the ocean and a wave of memories, good and bad, comes rushing down. You try to avoid it from permeating your sense of self but resistance is futile. So you sit down, feeling the moment you thought you’d never feel.

Then you close your eyes and you feel the water stirring your toes, giving you a sense of relief like you’ve never experienced for a very long time. You sigh and breathe slowly, inhaling and exhaling in rhythmic satisfaction. You begin to imagine how life was years back and you ask yourself if it’s still worth the time to muse over. You start to remember the things that made you become a better person and the people who inspired you but left in the long run.

Unconsciously, your eyes begin to well up with tears; you manage to smile and start to utter a word. And just when you are about to say something, everything suddenly stops.

The air no longer touches your body, you can no longer hear the snippets of conversation, and the water dries out. Silence. Everything, including time and space, stops.

You start to panic. You try to drop a single word but nothing passes down your mouth. You hear your heartbeat. The beat is gradually dying. You close your eyes again, thinking everything will return to normal. After a while, you slowly open your eyes and see an image of an old man, a silhouette, sitting near a tree. He smiles, waves his hands and you walk toward him in fear but you start asking him questions about life and its infinite twist of joy and sadness. He looks at your eyes, listens and senses what your heart has gone through. Knowing this, you grin.

The old man says: “Today would be a good day for doing something out of the ordinary. We could, for example, dance through the streets on our way to work. Look directly into the eyes of a stranger, and speak of love at first sight. Give the boss an idea that may seem ridiculous, an idea we’ve never mentioned before. Today, we could cry over some ancient injustices that still stick in our craw. We could phone someone we vowed never to speak to again (but from whom we would love to receive a message on the answering machine). Today could be considered a day outside the script that we write every morning. Today, any fault will be permitted and forgiven. Today is a day to enjoy life…” The old man continues.

And through timeless words and priceless pictures, you smile. From that moment on, you have found your purpose.

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