Song: Ordinary World
Group: Duran Duran
I had planned a trip to a local reservoir part way up Pikes Peak for my sister and I to visit...
but as she was still very tired...
she stayed home and I took the dogs with me...
(my sister's dog - Kaida - and my dog - Bandi).
However...
part way there...
the road was closed.
So...
feeling extra introspective...
I felt a long country drive would do me some good.
And so...
I decided to drive to Breckenridge and Vail ski areas just for time alone.
It proved to be very cathartic for me.
I had just received a phone call from an old friend yesterday...
another old friend had died just the day before...
a heart attack.
I had known her starting in 1979...
and this combined with the thought of my mother's passing this past January...
well...
the fresh and crisp air...
along with fabulous scenery and beautiful music...
had proved to be very healing for me.
The air temperature was in the low 20s F...
and as the day warmed...
it had reached a high of mid 30s...
before dropping to the high 20s on my way home.
But...
I had kept some of the windows open almost the whole way...
as the air was just so refreshing.
The grand beauty of this day simply cannot be overstated.
It was one of the most beautiful drives I had ever taken in my life.
Around every next corner unfolded even grander splendor.
It was simply magnificent.
On my way to the reservoirs before I had found the road closed.
I headed west...
and then north to the ski areas.
Breckenridge is just over an hour and a half away from my home...
Vail is just over 2 hours away...
and the drive is absolutely spectacular.
The scenery just kept getting better and better as I drove.
Don't get me wrong...
I felt a sadness as my thoughts kept going to my childhood as I remembered the good times
we children had with our mother...
and of the kindness shown to me by my recently deceased friend...
but the good memories overrode any sadness.
The sheer beauty of the snow capped mountains kept me entranced...
had filled me with such gratefulness for life in general...
and for the great simple pleasures to be had in just a simple country drive.
In this...
sadness drains away...
to be replaced with a great inner peace.
Some of the ski slopes of Breckenridge.
Copper Mountain ski resort was between Breckenridge and Vail.
Just before reaching Vail...
there were warnings on lit highway signs of an impending major winter storm
which would have high winds and heavy snowfall.
And so...
shortly after arriving in Vail...
I turned around and headed home.
I know I am nearing home whenever I see Pikes Peak.
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Of course...
death is inevitable for us all.
It is the end of the ride...
of which we only get to enjoy once.
However...
it is a necessary part of life...
and of which gives it so much value.
My mother passed in peace...
because she had always been a gentle soul.
I have...
over the years...
seen too many friends and acquaintances pass far too early.
Some had gone in peace...
some in passive resignation...
while some had been bitter in their final few months...
which was especially sad.
This means they had died with regrets...
regrets they should have long previously resolved.
They must have felt cheated...
which would indicate an unfulfilled life.
We each are responsible for the amount of happiness in life we experience.
No one else is.
With a few obvious exceptions...
we come into life alone...
and we leave it alone.
It is to ourselves we must always be true.
We each must find what makes us most happy...
and achieve it before it is too late.
Make your bucket list...
and fulfill it.
----------------
To live life fully...
one must look at death honestly.
I don't mean in a pessimistic and fatalistic manner.
To do so is to die in heart and soul...
to extinguish the inner child.
I mean to allow your inner child to thrive in simple country drives...
with the crisp air flowing through your hair...
and music filling your soul.
To feel every experience...
knowing it could be your last...
is to live fully.
To pursue your greatest passions and loves in life is to live life fully...
to never allow the world to extinguish love in your heart
and the wonder and magic that is only experienced through the eyes of a child...
and most of all...
to never allow sadness to diminish the cheerful playfulness of your inner child.
When you replace sadness with the magically happy memories of the past...
that is proper grieving.
Sadness in life is inevitable...
because it is the loss of something or someone dearly loved.
A cathartic journey...
whether it be through writing...
music...
or a simple country drive in the grandeur of majestic snow covered mountains...
is what you owe those who pass before you...
for it is everyone's wish to be fondly remembered...
to know they had mattered to someone.
But...
most of all...
it is what you owe yourself.
It is only when you are deeply and serenely happy
that deeply felt memories emerge.
And so...
you may revisit your lost friends and loves in life once again...
in the movie of your mind.
To have mattered to someone enough to be remembered after death...
is one of the prime motivators of the living in the conquering of the inevitable...
that of death.
It is what leads to progress in life...
and to a serene death.
Say what should be said...
and do what should be done.
If not for them...
then...
at least...
for yourself.
