The Fragility Of Life

Source: Jamie Bannon Photography on Pinterest

My Realization

I love walking and running. I’m a pretty energetic person, so both of these are great outlets for all of that pent-up energy. As of writing this blog post, I went on a 7-mile walk last Sunday, where I was hit by the thought of how fragile life is.

A photo I captured while walking beside the highway

After staying inside for most of my workouts this year, last Sunday was nice enough to finally be able to go outside. I was in a peaceful mood, listening to The Great Divide by Noah Kahan and walking down the highway. As I went on, the sidewalk continued narrowing and getting closer to the highway until finally, there was no sidewalk at all, and I was walking on the edge of the road. The cars that passed me by were mere feet away, and I kept considering turning around due to this closeness. Despite this, though, I continued on and finally crossed the highway to head in another direction. 

I found myself in the same scenario again, though this time with far less traffic. I wasn’t scared, but the thought hit me that I was in an extremely vulnerable position. If someone made one wrong move, they could send their vehicle speeding towards me. Then, as I considered this, I thought about just how fragile life truly is.

Luckily, no vehicle decided that it was finally my time, but I did still get hit with the realization that we never really know when our time is. I know this is a dark thought, and definitely not something I find worth worrying about, but it did make me consider how much more I need to appreciate life.

The Small Things

With the stress and hassles of day-to-day life, it’s easy to get distracted from how short, yet beautiful, life truly is. There’s so much beauty in the small things, such as receiving a birthday card from a friend or someone remembering a random detail about you. So much of life is built on the small things, and I know that I could take more time to appreciate them. It’s far too easy to get distracted by the negatives, and it can feel challenging to put any focus at all on the positives. The thing is though, time isn’t slowing down. Either you go along with it or get left behind.

Nothing Lasts Forever

An image I captured of clouds I found beautiful while on my walk

Take time to appreciate your surroundings, the people you love, and what makes you happy. Nothing lasts forever, and we never know what’s to come next. There is much difficulty in life, but there is also much beauty. We get the choice to decide what we put our focus on.

What are some things in your life you think you could better prioritize? Is there anything you need to let go of?