500 Words — Day Sixteen: The Reaper
Running out of time is not a fun feeling. On one hand, you feel the pressure of the deadline pressing down on you. Judgement Day is creeping closer and closer. You can only hide from the truth for so long. On the other, you sense a growing an apathy wrap you like a blanket. The voice in your head telling you to quit and give up the struggle. There are moments when you lose focus and get distracted by the overwhelming weight of the task pressing down you. There is no escape. Your only solace is compartmentalizing the experience into the here and now. The reaper is waiting outside the door that is your future and the door keeps getting closer.
I would like to be the voice that says with confidence that everything is going to be okay and we’re all going to make it. Then lay out the master plan and then flood everyone with confidence to reach our goals and survive. But at the moment I’m not that voice. Instead, I hope someone else will be that voice to rally the troops. Yet I sit there in quiet desperation and continue waiting. The one that sees the writing on the wall but doesn’t speak up. Maybe everyone is like that. It’s impossible to know. But waiting is clearly a bad strategy, especially when you are on the clock and the clock is not your friend. Remember the reaper is waiting.
What does it mean to be a good leader? Is a good leader someone who finds the path where one doesn’t appear to exist? Is a good leader someone who can lead the way so others can follow? Is a good leader someone who rallies confidence in the darkest moments? Is a good leader someone who admits their faults, but succeed in the face of them? All of these qualities require deliberate action, so when am I going to make my move? I can’t just keep waiting here for nothing to happen. So, why am I frozen? Why won’t I move and be the person I’m waiting for? Yet I’m stuck here watching. The reaper starts laughing. He gets closer.
If you want something, you have to take it. It’s really that simple. Your savior is not going to meet you on the other side of the door. You’ll walk through that door alone. But deep down you always knew that. Nobody is moving. If somebody is going to move, it was always to going to be you. That’s the situation I’m in. Everyday is a day closer. He gets closer.
Why do so many problems in society occur simply seem to grow and grow? How many people wait for somebody to stand up and change things? Tomorrow will better, but it never is. You are still there waiting for something to change and you already know what to do to fix things. All you have to start moving. To take action. To be the beacon on the path nobody can find. There was never a path there. You were always doomed to reach the door. The reaper was always going to win. But this time, you would be turning the knob with confidence and not fear.
