Today.
Kellen needed a moment.
For so long, he had been swept up in the life he had built. His career as a financial specialist took up much of his time. He wasn’t just any financial specialist, Kellen was the specialist for his companies investment arm. As a result, he needed to stay on top of everything from new projects at existing firms to exciting new organizations.
Outside of work, Kellen spent his time researching for his work. He barely had friends and those he did have were work related. Everything in Kellen’s life was done for the pursuit of his career.
All of it was worth it. Kellen was one of the top performers at his organization.
Today was different, though. Today, Kellen didn’t attend work. He had just left his doctor’s appointment and decided, for the first time in a long time, to take the afternoon off.
Kellen didn’t wear his usual suit, but a comfortable t-shirt and sweatpants combo. His hair was as kept as it usually was and its styling belied and contrasted the outfit he wore.
Today, Kellen was going to go for a walk in the river valley. It was something he hadn’t done in a very long time.
In the heart of the city ran a valley. Trees lined a blue river fed by mountain snow and glacial melt. Birds could be heard chirping anywhere in the valley while other animals could be seen if you looked closely. Through the cacophony of forests ran trails for safe access of the river valley.
Once in the valley, people would never even know that they were in the heart of a major city. Nature had taken over and was left to it’s own devices.
Kellen walked then walked some more as thoughts sang in tune to the birds through his mind. It had been ages since he had been down there. The last time that he could remember was when his mother would take him to the valley as a kid.
She was long gone now and Kellen was wondering if that’s part of the reason why he’d never come back here in all these years. Of course, his job took up all his time. He didn’t have a partner or many friends unrelated to his job.
Kellen made his way through the trails. The greens of the trees stood out vividly while wildflowers of varying colours lined the trail. Together, they brought a serene feeling over Kellen and he became lost in the sight and sounds of the valley.
Kellen rounded a corner and the trees seemed to melt away to a large grass field. A large hill made its home in the middle of the clearing. He made his way to the top of the hill where he found a bench. He sat down to take in the sight.
Foliage covered the valley. The effervescent greens reminded Kellen of the life both behind and in front of him. Beyond that, skyscrapers rose along the edge of the valley starkly contrasting the valley that lied in the heart of the city.
Two lives were in front of Kellen: one where he continued down the path of loneliness and success or one where he pivoted to build new relationships.
He sat for a long moment simply watching the soft breeze move the leaves in the valley. The bursts of the wind almost created a pattern — a wave moving across the leaves. On the river waters was a canoe with 2 people in it. Next to it were a few birds swimming along. It was hard to make out from his vantage point, but it looked like the pair was feeding and petting those birds.
The moment the pair in the canoe were having struck Kellen. He wanted more moments like they were having. Hell, he wanted any moment like that. His work took up all his time so he never had any memories in his adult life like the one happening on the river.
Kellen knew he was successful but he couldn’t keep going on this way. He had no one to share it with. No one to joke with. No one to share his news from the doctor that morning. Kellen was alone on that hill.
He vowed right then to change. To ensure that he didn’t miss out on life. To no longer waste all of his time in the pursuit of “success.”
What even was success anyway? He had money but he had no one. Now his diagnosis threatened to take that success away…
Kellen wasn’t sad about the diagnosis, but conflicting emotions sprang forth from missed opportunities that his career choice took from him.
Who was he kidding? He was giving barely a year to live but he still vowed to live those remaining days as fully as possible. Kellen was going to meet people, make new relationships, and enjoy the rest of his days.
He was going to start today.
