The End of The Road

With advancement in health care and medicine, we can look forward to living a longer life. However, over a span of two weeks, I was shocked to glance from the obituary pages of The Straits Times that two acquaintances had passed on. One was in her mid-forties leaving behind a husband and three children while the other was in her mid-fifties leaving behind a flat and some plants.


This got me thinking that when we reach the end of the road, so to speak, many things do not matter at all. Actually, many things in this world need not matter at all in the first place if we think critically enough, cut the crap and live in a down-to-earth manner.

So, instead of striving and striving for even more of the things of this world such as what the Holy Bible describes as: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, we can choose to be contented with a reasonable standard of living, curb our lusts, seek not for self-glory, and accord higher value and priority to both our health and relationships with family and friends.

Good health and relationships surfaces pretty quickly whenever people know that they are nearing the end. While there is still time, we can redeem our time by adopting a healthy lifestyle and cultivating synergistic relationships.

And, I would like to add further an observation made by wise King Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:13 (Amplified Bible), “All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun] and the whole [duty] for every man.”

We need to make room for God in our lives, humble ourselves before Him, and relate to other people with humility and magnanimous love. I surmise that our whole duty as a living person is to fear God and keep His commandments, such as to love God wholeheartedly and to love people fervently.

Life is too short for us to soak in hang-ups and major in trivialness.