“Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one.” – Martin Heidegger. When I saw this quote come up in my social media feed it stopped me. I had to read it twice and then a third time. I had to think about it… what does it mean. I finally realized that it had to do with potential and choices and results. I’ve previously written about “a fork in the road,” and how that represents (to me) the choices we make. They are many and they are constant and every one of them helps to shape our life. How we shape our life both impacts who we become and is impacted by who we become. We shape our life and our life shapes us. But when we’re born, what is “many men”? And when we die, how has that many been resolved into only one?
When a child is born – and make no mistake, the quote applies to both genders – that child has endless paths of opportunities in front of them. Obviously, they make no choices for themselves. Their parents or caregivers simply provide for them… but some of the choices they might have are already limited sometimes. Children born into financially challenged families, or put up for adoption at birth and ending up in foster care… these children don’t have as many easily accessed options as children born into more financially comfortable families.
At a very young age though, even as young as two or three years of age, the child’s values begin…
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The remainder of this essay can be found in the book “Farther Down The Road”
Farther Down the Road – Where does your life’s road lead?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTJ1B2QR