At the end of the road

Getting up early to see the sun rise is a way to extend life. Like every year on vacation, I walk my thoughts at dawn during those days that pass so fast.
On a dirt path that borders the sea, flanked by green and blue, I head up an ascending coastal path that culminates in serene and energizing aerial views of the coast.

During the journey I meet glances and perhaps complicit thoughts of other walkers and morning runners. Strangers and greetings that I won't see again until tomorrow, next year or probably never again. Today, I share an unexpected stop and conversation with a summer comrade

While we stretch our legs and the day we value the privilege of the area and the beauty of some colors that at this time most will only see on Instagram. The pleasant conversation and his jovial greeting upon meeting us “¡Hombre Joan! How are we doing ?They will accompany me all the way today.

My friend's question has resounded and turned my journey today into a mobile observatory on how we move forward along that path as a metaphor for life itself.

We say goodbye and I resume my route when a vigorous young athlete passes me by far.. With a devilish rhythm the views seem like a drag on their brands, Possible slave of the stopwatch in pursuit of holiday deeds. I come across a small woman later. It seems three times the age of its predecessor. Joyful step, smiling look, greets everyone who passes by and seems to enjoy it as if it were his first and last time.

Minutes later, a fifty-year-old like me jogs in the opposite direction. Overweight and selfless knees, punished pace and proud expression of end-of-marathon suffering. Your Traumatologist, who I suspect visits frequently, cannot dissuade him from his illusory youth

A small dog, restless and playful walks a man, that pretends to be in control and greets me as I pass. The dog barks at a pair of twentysomethings who laugh in Dutch as they take the first selfie of the day (or last of the night) with the rising sun behind her. Share the moment immortalizes.
I now advance progressively and on the left to three women who perfectly synchronized use a physical cane to walk and take turns with another verbal one so as not to leave a puppet with a head over the communal dinner shared the night before

Running men and women with competitive looks, partners in crime, smiling or averted gaze. Alone or accompanied. Awake or asleep. Regular or occasional. Cyclists, runners, walkers and picky eaters. Judges and courts. each has its own rhythm, with his backpack and circumstance. Alone on earth, together in digital. All more or less aware of how we see ourselves and how others see us

I get almost to the end of the trail, 100 meters for the ascent to the dream views. Some white fabric flowers fixed on a pole to my right and with a name on it, Kees de Haan, they remind me of the dutch lawyer from 59 years that abruptly ended his life path at that very point during his vacations and reflections of 2017.

Balance and focus

I did not meet Mr. De Haan but that detail reminds me and inspires me every year, just this week and before the start of the course. Some flowers that invite me to be clearer about my direction and priorities, to enjoy the journey and to be more receptive and willing to opportunities and to the people with whom I share the journey.
We wish this one was long, But we know that tomorrow the sun will not rise for everyone and that the value at the end of the road will be the sum of experiences and emotions. Everything discovered, enjoyed, learned, shared, loved and contributed…without leaving our lives in it.
I don't know if mr. De Haan had time to take stock. We do have it now and remembering nurse Bronnie Ware and her book Top Five Regrets of The Dying, it will be useful to learn from others by remembering the main regrets of people at the end of their life:

1. I wish I had the courage to live the life I wanted and not the one they expected of me
2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard
3. I would have liked to express my feelings more
4. I would have liked to keep in touch with my friends
5. I wish I had given permission to be happier

It is healthy to keep this more in mind when reintegrating ourselves into the productive system, back to work, to our own and other people's inertias and routines in post-pandemic transition.
Perhaps reflection will help us to see something that can and should be different from tomorrow and that it is in our power to choose and change, don't you think? ?

At that height of the path, passed the white flowers sign and before heading up the mountain the coastal path, intentionally slow down, I raise my head and admire once more the sun that takes off from the sea. I take a deep breath savoring and appreciating the present and the landscape. The sun radiates heat and energy to fill a new day and a new season with what everyone wants, should and can.

Happy new course everyone