Life is Beautiful

 Life is beautiful not because everything is smooth, no struggle In life; but exactly the opposite.  There are a lot of struggles in life.  However, in each struggle, we learn lessons from them and continue to grow. During this growing process, we appreciate life.  In the end, life is indeed beautiful.

Some of the lessons are quick to learn because our  body's five senses could be a good  thermometer.   For example, if we touch a hot object, we get burned and will not touch the hot object again.  

However, some of the lessons are not so easy to recognize and require being mindful to find the cause and to avoid it in the future.  Here is one example.

When I was in college in Taipei, Taiwan, I participated in mountain hikings with classmates.  Each time after hiking, I had a very difficult time falling asleep.  Sometimes, I was lucky I was asleep but often woke up in the middle of night, then could not go back to sleep.  Then, there was one time, not only I didn’t sleep well, my liver enzymes spiked after the walk.  Usually, the insomnia episodes subsides and abnormal liver enzymes go away after a few days of rest.  For many years, I did not know why.

Then back in Wisconsin in 1998 when I was participating in 50 miles bike riding in the country.  I got all the gear.  It was breezy, I did not feel thirsty nor I was sweating too much.  I felt fine until the last mile when I came down from the bike and tried to walk and rest.  My feet literally could not walk a single step.  The event ambulance took me back to the headquarters and gave me orange juice and something to eat.  Then miraculously, I could walk again.  

All those years of insomnia, liver enzymes spike and even being unable to walk are all symptoms of dehydration.  That was a big lesson to learn in my life. Dehydration is indeed very serious and dangerous.

Recently I had  a phone conversation with my brother, David.  He lives in Westchester County, NY.  One day, he and his wife took a train to New York City and walked around New York City.  In the evening, they took a train back to Westchester County.  At the train platform, David could not move his feet for a while.  When I told him about my experiences of dehydration, he suddenly understood the cause of his symptoms.  Because it was difficult to access public restrooms in New York City, he limited his water intake during the walk so that he wouldn't feel rushed to a restroom.  Under such circumstances, dehydration occurred and it’s symptoms surfaced.  I am glad that I was  able to help my brother by  passing along the lesson I learned .  Life is beautiful.

Yet, there were circumstances where I learned the lessons in a much harder way.  It was a bright sunny winter day and I had an urge to go cross country skiing on a ski trail.  That was the time when there was no GPS, no WiFi, and absolutely no communication tools.  That day, I told my wife that I went skiing, without telling her where I went.  I just told her I would be back in a few hours.  I went to Ioda town in Wisconsin which is approximately 20 miles from my home.  The ski trail loop was approximately one and half miles which could be easily completed in less than two hours.  Because it was a loop, I should go back to the original starting point if I follow the trail.  As a result, I did not pay too much attention to the trail map.  

After 2 hours and not seeing the trail's original place, I began to puzzle about what was going on.  I looked at the map and trail sign, and was shocked, a really big shock.  I was not only off the ski trail but I was on the Ice Age Trail which runs approximately 1000 miles from the Minnesota border to Lake Michigan along the edge of the last continental glacier in Wisconsin.  

I was well off the trails and did not know how to get back.  The sun began to set, and the air temperature began to drop.  It was on a New Year holiday, and no car could be seen.  I began to be very afraid.  

I searched around the wood and no one could be seen.  Then I saw a hut.  I knocked on the door and hoped to see someone, and nobody could be seen.

I silently said to God that all my life, I did not steal. I did not rob.  But this time, if I saw no one, I was going to break into the hut to take shelter.  

I took the last chance to wait on the side of a road. Ten minutes passed, then 15 minutes, then 25 minutes, then 30 minutes. Then a big relief;  I saw a car pass by.  I waved to the driver, and the driver stopped and thankfully, he took me back to the original spot of the ski trail where my car was parked. 

I was lucky because the driver didn’t have to stop. After all all drivers were advised not to pick up a hitch hiker. But the driver, Bob, did stopped and I thank Bob and God deeply. Life is indeed beautiful, and my life was saved The lesson ?  Never take an adventure without telling other people. This indeed was a big and hard lesson to learn.

I moved to Ann Arbor in 2023.  I did not get a chance  to go cross-country skiing last winter.  But I walk everyday.  Few days ago, I was briskly walking along the Gallup Park Pathway.  Then a young lady in her 30s passed me.  What really bothered me was that she was walking leisurely, not like me briskly .  I then speeded up my walk so that I could pass her.  What did I see ?  The distance between her and me only got larger. I admitted that even she walked leisurely, she still walks faster than I. 

What should I say ?  That was my most recent lesson; a body of near 80 year old person is different from that of a 30 something person.  That is wisdom.   Isn’t life beautiful of learning this lesson when I am 78 years old.