In our tranquil subdivision lives an old man I do not know by name, but known by his amiable features.
He loves to walk every morning and afternoon. He wears a rather comical fedora on top of his head whenever he does his daily walks. The summer heat, in my perspective, is unbearable especially that my city receives a fluctuational weather from sunny mornings to heavy afternoon or evening rains. Nevertheless, this unpredicatble state of the atmosphere never hinders his volition to go outdoors.
During the last few months prior the start of our summer vacation, I occasionally came across with him as I began my travel from my house. I never spoke to him, yet he would give friendly greetings of goodmornings or just smile. On other days, he would just walk by silently.
How old is he? 70 perhaps? Or maybe in his near 80s?
His frail physique astoundingly disguises his robustness. One would think that it may not be advisable for men like him to go outside unguarded. He might accidentally injure himself or burnout. Up to now, I still see him doing his daily routines.
Thoughts were brimming with questions as I wondered on what his life was like. Was he one of those bad boys who loves to jeer and hoot at young women just for fun? Or was he one of those goody two-shoes who gentlemanly offers the seat first to his wife, before getting inside the front wheel? Was he successful of his endeavors? Was he a failure? Did he ever travel outside the country? Is he patriotic? Well the fedora might mean a no, but everyone buys things from imported goods anyways.
Then as I thought about these, another question struck me about myself: will I become like him?
Honestly, I cannot stop thinking about my future; not the career type, but the idea of being old.
Kids my age are full of ambitions. We love to imagine what our future should be. We love the idea of conquering the world and be better than our elders. This egocentric attitude has led us to think of our impunity from being unyoung; and when we do reach the stage of being old, can we say that we achieved what we dreamed of or was it all just a bluff?
Is the old man happy of his life or not? Does he have any regrets of not doing something of utter importance? Is he prepared of the end of his story? Is he satisfied with his life that the only thing he loves to do is his daily walks with his fedora and cane?
Life is indeed too short for men who yearned for longer time; men who wanted to imprint lasting impressions to the humanity.
I believe that what you want to do in life, you must do it now; because time isn’t waiting. There’s no such thing as ‘doing it soon’, for you may never know on what other challenges lay ahead. If you can do it today, then do it today. Good consequences will come later.
Bibliophilia of Randomness 