Ripples in Time

Today is a day like all others. The minutes tick by with their typical mundanity. I spent time online looking at material things, walked while listening to an audiobook, and hit the gym. In a moment, I looked out the window, and the breeze rippled my curtain in such a way as to grab my attention. As if to say, listen. A neighbor mowing his lawn, the leaves moving with the breeze, and the clouds passing overhead. Across the street was a sign that read, “The Party is Here!” The teenager across the street graduated from high school. I’m not sure I’ve done more than wave to him since I have lived in my home and been here since 2007. Depending on his birthday, he was around a year old when I moved in.

Why does any of that matter? Time.

It passes. Whether its existence and purpose in the cosmos can be understood is unknowable, but our consciousness uses it as a guide and a reminder that there will come a time when that very consciousness ceases. That may be THE paradox.

In eight short years, my daughter will have a sign in her front yard acknowledging the closing of one chapter of her life and the beginning of another. Her book is still introducing characters. Mine is in the middle of a thickening plot, while others see their stories being wrapped up. If we’re lucky, the author will keep writing to our story's proper conclusion.

It isn't easy to balance life. On the one hand, stopping and noticing the beauty around us is essential. On the other hand, we are also responsible for using our gifts and hard work to make the world a little better. Most of us will never be remembered beyond our families. That’s okay. If we do our best, we leave something good behind. That ripple in time where we exist, where you exist, matters. Leave a good ripple.

We may never know the extent of the ripple we leave behind. In fact, it is a surety that we will not know. If we have done what we can to matter in the best ways, that ripple in time is a ripple of light.

A light that never ceases because we were here.