Crossroads

Once we sat on a hill of sand overlooking the desert. The sun was setting below an endless ocean of Saharan dunes and a slight breeze rolled in. I grabbed a handful of sand and let it slowly trickle through my fingers like an hour glass. It was so fine that as it left my hand, the wind took it and it virtually dissolved into thin air. What's next? I wondered.

Four years later, we sat in a Mexican restaurant in downtown Seattle, taking in the Christmas decorations and reminiscing with cold beers and chips and salsa. It was the first time we had been united since each taking off on our different endeavors in different corners of the world after graduation. As we laughed and joked, I realized that so much had changed and yet so much was still the same. And now, much like we had shared that moment in the Sahara, we now shared something else: we had each reached a crossroad in our lives. What's next? we wondered.

It would be a lie if I told you only a few easy decisions lie ahead. My mind is in a whirlwind right now. Though we didn't show it while sipping Dos Equis and reliving our college days, I think all of us were going through it. But as I left the restaurant and headed to my car, I reached a crosswalk. I waited in the cold as the cars sped by, looking for an opportunity to get to the other side. It was then that I realized it was pointless to focus on the cars that had already passed through the interesection, and I turned my head towards those that were still approaching.

I keep seeing that sand, slipping through my hands like an hour glass and disappearing into the wind. Fortunately, I still have the same people by my side who were there with me that evening on the hill in the desert. And so many others.

"While the world is breathtaking, we find the most overwhelming beauty of all within each other."