Life's Ladder

I imagine life as this existence suspended in time and resting on a unique ladder of experiences and journeys, each rung representing a decision or step. No two people can use the same ladder; though, at times, two ladders may converge when their keepers journey together through life. No ladder is eternal and no ladder can bear their traveler forever. I think the ultimate question in life is "where will the future take me and where will my path lead?" However, most people will find out the hard way that life does not carry the living along. Life, on the contrary, has an agenda of its own and may or may not be looking out for each individual. In order to get anywhere in this life, one must make the effort themselves or get left in the dust. If the process of living was any other way, I would have photographed an escalator or something of the sort. Yet here we all stand, on our ladders, each with a singular past and a unique destiny, enduring existence and hanging on.

Realistically, there are only two directions one can travel on an ladder, up and down. Traveling down a ladder is easier on one's body, however, it can be much more dangerous. On the other hand, traveling up a ladder is much more difficult but the traveler is ultimately safer. Anyone who has spent any time on a ladder will know this to some degree. So then my point? To be blunt and un-suspenseful, those who travel up the ladder are searching for a higher purpose. I climb the ladder because I know Christ will meet me at the top. Those who descend the ladder are looking for the easier way through life. However, this descent will ultimately destroy all those who knowingly or ignorantly descend to the depths.

Life is about choices and decisions. Make these choices; do not remain standing on one rung of the ladder. But also, in these choices and decisions, try to climb. Make the better decision, take the high road, do the more difficult thing. In the end those who climb will end up where they want to be, on top on a life well lived. If one takes the easy way through life, they will end up in a pit, an inescapable and damning chasm of darkness. There are two ways to live, the right way, and the wrong way. There are many ways to climb and many ways to descend, but the important factor of living is that an ascent, not descent, is seen.

Up my ladder I looked, weary but sure of my purpose and destination, pulling my Nikon FA over my shoulder I lifted it to my eye. I peered through the viewfinder and saw my future. I focused on my future, not daring to focus on the past, and, with a gentle press on that little silver button, loaded my film with all that has yet to even occur.