Italian
But what direction should we give to existence? It is a fundamental question we ask ourselves, but one that we inevitably extend to others. We often dispense advice on the path to take and, when it comes to the people we love, such as children or friends, we expect that advice to become directives. If they are not followed, the disappointment is great. We justify ourselves by saying that we do it “for their own good,” precisely because our affection drives us to wish the best for them.
I remember a dinner some time ago with a few colleagues. The conversation inevitably turned to children. It was a showcase of successes: some had graduated with honors, others were already in important professions or held prestigious positions. One of the diners, who had remained silent with his head down, spoke last. He shared that his son had not wanted to continue his studies after middle school; he had gone through a dark period, facing years of treatment. Then, as an adult, he attended an evening vocational course and became an apprentice in a workshop. Today he is a plumber, has started his own business, and despite some difficulties, he works and earns a living.
I confess that that evening I felt a pang of pity for that colleague, because I understood his disappointment. But today, with the passage of time, I look at that story with different eyes. I feel I can say that in life no path is predetermined. All journeys are valid, especially when they deviate from the directions we would have liked to chart ourselves.
After all, nature itself teaches us this. In physics, no matter how much we try to condition the trajectory of elementary particles, they follow the predicted direction only to a minimal extent. The majority deviate, discard, go where they want, despite any coercion. It is a phenomenon that still puzzles scientists, an intrinsic push towards disorder and freedom that escapes the rigid rules of determinism.
If we think about it, the fact that the directions of our lives and those of others are changeable is not a condemnation, but a source of hope. It is the variability that governs life, and it is its very unpredictability that makes it possible. What seems logical and linear to pure reason is often not so in the real world.
Every day, at the same time, along the provincial road, I see a man. With great tenacity and immense effort, he moves on a modified tricycle wheelchair, propelling himself with the strength of his arms due to his paralyzed legs. His yellow flag serves to make him more visible as he swiftly advances on a busy and dangerous road. Large heavy vehicles brush past him, risking not to see him. But he, early in the morning and at the same time, is there on the roadside training.
Here is the deep meaning of “direction”. One can choose to proceed along the tracks of a reassuring normality that pulls you along, or one can take a path in a stubborn and contrary direction. In the end, what really matters is not conforming to a predetermined one-way sense, because this is unnatural. Just like in nature, for humans too, the variety and unpredictability of the directions life takes are the essence and meaning of life itself. Without these attributes, life does not exist and never would have existed.
