The following is an emulation from the poem, “On Looking Ahead” by Gus Barrett.

 

When in our infancy, life was a miraculous.

The road ahead of us was long and full of treasures.

The cribs just got put together.

And the walls of the nursery just got freshly painted.

All waiting for our arrival.

“Life is a blessing.” we said.

And never paused to look ahead.

In our toddler years, life was full of innocence.

Days were spent playing in sandboxes and on swing sets.

Or by using our imagination with bursting colours, full of dreams.

“Life is like a playground.” we said.

And we never paused to look ahead.

In our teen years, “life” was just getting started.

With old faces leaving and foreign faces entering our journey from every corner.

Days were being filled with studying, while nights were filled with rambunctious parties.

Some people in our lives touched our hearts more than others.

While others used our love for granted and gave us nothing but sorrow.

Nonetheless, we grew, we thrived, and we learned.

“Life is so busy.” we said

And we never paused to look ahead.

In our twenties, our lives were on their highest peak.

With degrees being mastered and achieving the one job we worked hard for all these years.

We kept searching for new adventures to take part in.

And we continued to learn the various lessons life had to offer.

We fell in love with the person that knew us better than we knew ourselves.

We solidified this affection with a vow stating that we will love each other through sickness and health.

“Life is so lovely.” we said.

And we never paused to look ahead.

In our thirties, life was bursting with our own little bundles of joy.

Children were blooming with happiness and an unconditional love like no other.

Careers were on their peaks and suddenly we had a beautiful house of our own.

Days were now filled with rushing to work on time and ensuring that everything was on schedule.

Nights were now filled with nurturing, sooth, and feeding our little ones when they were in distress.

Bills had to pay, food must be in the fridge, and some alone time was essential.

“Life is so stressful.” we said.

And we never paused to look ahead.

Now in our seventies, there’s only so much that we can do.

We are now retired, while our children have moved out to begin their own journeys.

Days are now spent waiting for phone calls from family that always seemed to be busy.

Nights are now spent reading or reminiscing of the times we took for granted being.

Now all that is left are the memories we cherish and the desires of going back into time and taking in every moment.

“Life went by too quickly.” we said.

Remember to pause and look ahead.

 

I emulated from this poem because it made me think about the message the author was conveying. How every decade of our lives, there’s always going to be new things that will take up our time and priority. We get so caught up in this chaos, that we tend to forget that the road ahead of us isn’t that far away. We forget to stop and admire all that we have accomplished and everything we have been blessed with. Most importantly, we forget that everything is temporary and one day the only thing we will have left are memories.