[Harp-L] The long road

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I am walking down a road. In the beginning, there is heavy fog, and I can
only see a tiny stretch of the road in front of me. I stumble on a few rocks
at first but I quickly get back on my feet and soon enough I'm walking at a
steady pace.

As I move forward, the fog lifts, or maybe my sight sharpens, I don't quite
know. As a consequence, I begin to see a lot further ahead of me. I can see
that the road goes on for much longer than I originally expected. At times,
I stop walking and look back. I can still see the beginning of the road.
I've made progress and that pleases me. But then I look forward again and I
see that the road goes on for so long... I find that a little depressing at
times...

I do not travel this road alone. Often I spot other travelers heading in the
same direction. Sometimes, on sinuous parts of the road I manage to speak
with those who are ahead of me. They tell me about the sights I have yet to
see, and sometimes I wish I could just skip these parts of the road and hop
along with them. But deep down I know that it's not worth cheating over. I
will always know that I haven't traveled the road all the way if I start
taking shortcuts.

There are travelers behind me also. Sometimes I'll let one or two catch up
with me and we travel together for a while. Sometimes, in the sinuous parts,
I cross people who are way behind and I try and encourage them with a few
words of wisdom learnt along the way.

I reflect that some travelers move faster than others. They seem more
dedicated, or perhaps they simply have more talent for walking. Once in a
while, I meet up with a traveler who has stopped and settled down. I often
think that they will be depressed or bitter about not having been able to
travel further, but really most of them are happy. They stopped because they
felt they had traveled enough for their own satisfaction, and simply don't
wish to go further.

At first, the road was pretty straight, there was only one route so to
speak. But as I move along, I realise that there are more and more alternate
paths, and it's sometimes hard to choose which one to travel on. It's hit
and miss mostly. Sometimes I choose a long route only to realise that it
didn't get me much further down the road, sometimes I put a lot of effort on
what looks like a hard path, and it really pays. But after a long while, I
start to realise that the further I go, the steeper the road as a whole
becomes, no matter which paths I choose. It takes me a lot more effort to
cover the same distance than it used to.

There are distractions along the way. Some of the alternate routes end up
being dead ends or winding paths that lead back to where I started. There
are also many inns by the side of the road filled with laughter, seductive
wenches, happy toddlers to entertain. So sometimes, I myself stop along the
way. At first that made me feel guilty, but after a while I realise that I
need those periods of rest to find confidence for the rest of the journey.

I can see the road all the way to the horizon now. I think I've finally
figured out that there is no end to the road. No matter how much I walk down
the long road, there will always be a longer stretch ahead of me. I have
also realised that I will stop one day. There are those dedicated travelers
who I believe will always keep walking until the day they die, and I truly
admire that dedication. I think I don't have the willpower to do that
myself. For now, I'm happy to continue to walk, but I know for a fact that I
will settle down one day, and I'll still be happy with the journey I've
made...