This is Reality

When we are young, we are full of hope.

We have innocence and boundless energy.

First, we are children.

The world is new.

The possibilities feel endless.

This is reality.

Then we are adolescents.

We know everything and nothing

simultaneously.

We speak with confidence about wisdom we do not yet have,

yet we refuse to accept it from those who are wiser.

This is reality.

Soon we become adults.

We step into the world with our eyes still wide.

Work, marriage, children.

It feels like the beginning of an adventure.

We are still young, still strong, still capable.

This is reality.

The years wear on.

We love, we cry, we laugh, and we grieve.

Experience teaches us the wisdom we once rejected.

This is reality.

Our minds still feel young.

They remember who we were.

They refuse to believe how much time has passed.

But our bodies begin to fail us.

Our bodies betray us.

We become frailer and more fragile.

This is reality.

And eventually the day comes

when we lie down

and never rise again.

This is reality.