A View of Life Beyond the Days

A VIEW OF LIFE BEYOND THE DAYS
By Al Garcia

The days go by like the ticking of a clock. Perpetual. Constant. Unending.

Our existence measured by celebrations and revelries defined by candles on a cake and the withering and fading rhythm of our beating hearts, and not by a view of life beyond the days. How sad to live a lifetime and have only burned out candles and have only fading memories of days gone by.

I learned too early in my life how quickly and deceivingly life can betray and destroy. I saw the indestructible and invincible spirit of youth and vigor extinguished on a battlefield, and then I came home to witness the waning and eroding specters of once resilient and robust souls who had guided me through the many phases of my life, fade and finally cease to be. But yet, the days keep coming – assaulting the body and the mind with reflections and echoes of all the days gone by that pain the heart and touch the soul.

I have learned one thing in the days and years reflected by the many candles on my cake. I have learned that life gives each of us a chance to feel, to touch, to taste, to think. A chance to expose the child inside of us that still believes in hopes and dreams – the pure innocence that we once were. But most of all, life has given me a view of life beyond the days, where I will not be bound by the rising sun or the setting moon, nor by the hatred or the greed of men.

And the days go by like the ticking of a clock. Perpetual. Constant. Unending. And it is the promise of a view of life beyond the days that makes each candle on my cake more meaningful and profound.

It is the passion and the grace of having lived that makes the passing of each day a priceless treasure to be savored and forever cherished – even with the imperfections and blemishes that we may possess.

Count the candles on a cake – for like stars upon the sky, they tell the story of a lifetime.