When It Hits You

We live. We grow older. The only constant is change. We are all in this ride of life until our number is up. Some numbers come sooner than others. It hurts. It didn't happen to me, but I feel it all the same. The people we have learned to love and grow with will eventually part this physical existence into dust and dirt until all that is left is a glimpse of who they used to be. We move along.

A memory of good times and love had will live on in your mind, but sometimes the pain of that memory is difficult to bear. Especially at first. It feels unreal to lose the very people we once depended on. The people we can count on when there is no one else to turn to. When all others abandon us. They were there through thick and thin. Until they weren't anymore. It's unimaginable. It's too soon. It pulls a heavy load of sorrow behind every lasting memory. We move along.

When the impermanence of life hits you, it is terrifying. It is painful. No one can expect the slap reality gives when death reaps at our doorsteps. The reality is that death is always there, in a coordinated two-step with life. Always overshadowing the fascinations of what life provides. Always reminding us that the shadow will eventually become the reality. Always to be remembered as something we should not forget about. Never forget death. Keep it in mind. Not in a nihilistic sense, but rather, an urgent sense. By keeping death in mind, we can live our lives to the fullest. We can live to the fullest for our lives. For our futures. For our loved ones. We can live to the fullest for all of the loved souls death has claimed through time. We keep death in mind, so we can move along.

We can feel helpless at times, but in truth, it is our minds that allow us to feel helpful or helpless. There are no good or bad situations, all situations just are. How we react to those situations is what defines us. We may weep when emotions tell us something is bad. We may smile when emotions tell us something is good. But either way, we must pick up and carry on. Let the emotions come when they may, but keep your head up and fight on.

RIP Smitty