Living the Road

What is life? A big question….an even bigger answer. To tell you the truth I have no idea what life means. But I have a theory. To me, life is not defined by the beating of the heart, the act of breathing, or the ability to communicate. That is existence. Many creatures on this earth can do all of the things noted above. But they do not live. They simply exist. There is a difference between living and existing.

Imagine existence as a road. The road serves no purpose other than being there. It does not laugh, it does not cry, and it does not define the life lived upon it. The road has a beginning, a direction, curves, intersections, potholes, forks, and eventually an end. We each travel a different road, with different characteristics, but with two aspects that are always the same. The road has a beginning and an end. But the life lived on the road is up to us. We live our life on the road, but the road does not define the life lived upon it.

We may choose to walk the road, or run, or hop, skip, and jump along it. We may choose to avoid the risks associated with the road, or jump headlong into them. A road may be filled with obstacles that we have to overcome, but we should not blame the road for the obstacles. The road owes us nothing. Life is not characterized by the attributes of the road, but by the actions we take while traveling it. If we choose to let the road dictate our life, then the blame lies squarely on our shoulders. We choose the life lived, not the road.

Life is the act of making our existence count… it’s about making the trip worthwhile. Appreciating what the road has to offer as well as the challenges it presents. Simply put, life is making the road something more than nature intended.