Direction of Life

Do you know your direction of life? When i mean direction, i do not mean the goals in your life. Goals are too generic. A goal is like a soccer goal post. It is always that big. Just that where are you shooting the ball from. Targets are more specific. Try aiming for the bulls eye on the archery board or the dart board. Im sure it has heighten the odds quite. I shall now share with everyone a simple story i saw on the television one night.

There is this tradition in an asian country. When the elderly is about to pass on, the younger generation will have to carry him/her to the highest place in the village. There the elder one will pass on peacefully. My story is about this young man and his mother. He never saw his father as he abandoned mother and child when he was young. The mother fell sick and it got worse as day pass. One day, the mother tell the son that she is passing on. She knows she cannot make it to another few more days. The son did not like to hear those words but he had to. So the next day, he woke up before the break of dawn. He cooked his mother's favourite dish and also prepare food for the journey to the tip of the highest mountain. He bathed his mother and help her wore the nicest clothes she have. After that, he carried her on his back and the equipment of the journey on his front.

It was his first journey. He did not know the way. There were no tracks, no roads, no markings. His only direction was the highest peak on the mountain. So he eyed his target and continued. Once a while, he would feel a tug towards the back. At the start he felt that it was him getting tired, so the weight at the back would feel heavier. He continued his journey. The tug keep coming and the last few were stronger than the previous few. So when he felt a tug, he took a glance back. What he saw made the son very surprised. The mother was grabbed a couple of branches and dropped them on the floor. He was puzzled as why is she doing this but did not ask his mother. He just kept his sight on the top of the mountain.

As fatigue caught up with him, he stopped for a rest at a nearby tree and gave his mother some water. After the mother finished drinking, he took courage and asked the mother why did she pull off branches and drop them on the ground. His mother took a deep breath and answered. 'The branches are for you. I am not going back home. At the top, i will leave you and continue with my other life. But you need to go home. You need the directions of the place we passed. You will be lost without these directions.'

Hearing this, the son could not help but teared.