The Ending

We are here to tell our stories. What’s your ending? Are you a late-bloomer, hence, saving the best for last? Or you believe that the best has already been behind i.e. apocalypse now.

Not all is “horror, horror” as in the ending of Apocalypse Redux (the original version ends with ” we have met the enemy and the enemy is us” as the chopper came for the captain/assassin).

I often wonder if Stephen Covey had known of his ending ( he died in a biking accident) or the owner of Segway Scooter (also died while riding his own invention). Other endings intrigue us still e.g. Amelia’s.

Having a sense of an ending helps us

• reduce our inflated ego
• focus on the important, often buried among the urgent
• appreciate life and its moments which pass unnoticed till the very end

Start-up companies appreciate an audit and a pre-mortem analysis (what factors would contribute to our demise and how do we go about mitigating those risks). I would venture to carry this concept to health and family as well: what would likely be our “apocalypse”: high-blood pressure or cancer? Personality conflict or money issues?

The ending is buried in the present. It shows signs and sends signals. We are the sender and receiver at the same time. We buy insurance and avoid risks. We long to tell our stories yet none of us know the inevitable ending to our stories. Some will fall and some will lie down. Last breath and last rite. To have an inkling of how the story ends is comforting and stress-reducing. It motivates us to do our best and to believe the best is yet ahead even beyond the grave. I for once tend to believe it.

What’s your ending? and while at it, go hug a child and do smell the flowers. It’s what life has to offer, to the richest and poorest among us. Worry not about death and tomorrow. Solomon and all his wisdom couldn’t even be compared with the beauty of Spring-time Lillies. And there are plenty of those this time of the year, albeit not long-lasting. No wonder Emperors of the past had an assistant at his side, to remind him that “today you will die”. Keep at it since it’s the one prophecy that is the truest.