The Road to Nowhere Goes Nowhere Fast

I walk down a smooth road, going nowhere in particular. I look off to my right, I see men struggling through trees and thickets, stumbling through trenches, bogs and swamps. Off to my left I see men scaling cliff sides and ridges, climbing over boulders, and through canyons. One man in particular happened to be crossing my smooth road. He was worn, tattered and bruised. He had dried blood on his head and shirt, he’d obviously fallen quite a bit. But as tired as he was, his eyes radiated with energy and vigor.
“Sir” I said, “Where have you come from that you are beaten so badly?”
He looked at me and with great triumph said, “Do you see that mountain behind me?”
“I have just conquered it. But not before I got through the seemingly bottomless canyon before it. And now” he said, facing the right, “I am going to cross that great swamp, so that I can beat the mountain on the other side.” I grabbed his arm before he could get away, “But sir, who knows what might lurk in the swamp, and the top of that mountain is unseen for the clouds. And there is undoubtedly more unforgiving mountains, dismal swamps, and merciless deserts beyond that.”
He looked into my eyes, and with a passion and energy I will not soon forget said,
“I was once like you, walking the smooth road to nowhere. Sure, its nice and plush. It has the rest stops, the 7-11’s, the Motel 6’s. But they can’t teach you trust & love, pain & suffering, patience & forgiveness, heartbreak & loneliness, friendship & courage, fear & humility, loyalty & forgiveness, reverence & obedience.
“Some you see as positive some as negative. But you can’t have the positive without the negative. The two go hand in hand to make the energy of life. So come my friend, and let us embark on a journey to find the energy of life.”
I took his offer and left my smooth road to nowhere, and set of on a path to eternity blazed by hundreds before us.
When I reached the top of my first mountain, I was tired but not down, bloody but not beaten, battered but victorious. I looked out over the landscape until I found my next challenge and continued on my path to eternity.