When it is time
by Alex Hutchins
Throughout history and our mythologies (that form a foundation of our histories) we, as readers and sometimes enthusiasts (outside of a college course requirement) have become aware of individuals who, in moments of courage, inspiration, and valor have performed incredible feats against all odds and as we as readers catch our breaths, we wonder if they were just plain stupid or what… but, in all honesty, if it is not your time to go (meaning death) then you remain on this earth and live another day. Some of us may find this incredulous while others see this as logical and still others may wonder if this is another example of pre-destination; and if so, reject the notion outright because if offends our sense of free will and our ability to make choices. However, this is not the point of my comments, so please as the reader, do not go there.
When I was 20, my life had a couple of doubling periods but when I was 40, the doubling dropped to 1 and when I was 60, there were no more doubling periods at all and I began to see what everyone sees at that age: the inevitable end to one’s life. Morbid as this may seem, I am not writing about death per se but about life and living life fully and completely until that point-in-time, when it is your time to go.
At the age of 40, when I had 1 doubling period left to my life (estimated of course), two remarkable events happened in my life: one was planned and the other one was not planned. Regarding the planned event, I quit smoking and regarding the unplanned event, I met a Presbyterian minister who shared the following idea with me.
We go through 5 phases in our lives that are marked by the following descriptions:
· Unconscious perfection
· Unconscious imperfection
· Conscious imperfection
· Unconscious perfection
· Conscious perfection
This Presbyterian minister also shared a true story with me about the time he was in India and visited one of the “poorest” cities in India and in the world at that time. This minister was riding a bicycle through the streets of this city, utterly amazed at the poverty and filth that he was witnessing when a frail man, also riding a bicycle and epitomizing India’s poverty, came alongside and smiling reached out his arm and had for the minister to also reach out and hold which the minister did. And, as the minister road along the streets of the city with this old man, a stranger, he witnessed a sense of serenity on the other man’s face. They rode together, hand-in-hand, for about 10 minutes or so, and then the stranger released the minister’s hand and peddled his bicycle in another direction.
What this experience means to you, the reader, is no doubt different than what it meant to the Presbyterian minister who experienced it or to me several years ago when I first heard it, but now I think that I understand it a little better. It was not just the fact that this bicycle rider from India was still living because it was not yet his time, but that this man was experiencing “conscious perfection.”
A few years ago, my second cousin was diagnosed with a terminal cancer (the type is irrelevant) and when my wife and I went to visit him, we sat outside enjoying the day as he explained to my wife how he was growing potatoes in a pot and how easy that was to do and how good the potatoes that he was going to eat would taste. We talked neither of his cancer nor of his lifetime of accomplishments, and we heard him complain not once. On the drive back to our home in Tennessee, I thought to myself that when my time came, I wanted to behave just like my cousin; nothing more, nothing less – it was just that simple.
Today, I am consciously imperfect, and have a long way to go; but, I do know that life is not about accomplishments or failures; it is not about how much money you have or don’t have; it is not about being a Democrat, Republican, or an independent; it is not about one’s religious denomination or being an atheist or agnostic, and it is not about living a public or private life.
Most of us do not think about the circumstances of our birth: where it took place or when or to what family. Why? Because at the time of our birth and shortly thereafter, we were either unconsciously perfect or unconsciously imperfect. It was not until we moved into the phase of being consciously imperfect that we began lamenting or rejoicing over our circumstances.
Whether or not these 5 phases are reality is not the point… but, what is the point is that, to this writer, I think it makes sense to accept them as truth as we have already accepted the fact that when it is our time to go, it will happen regardless… just like our birth.
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