"We're Riding on the Escalator of Life"

Sometimes something as simple as a song title can really make you think.  If you recognize the title of this post, you probably remember the song of the same name that was popular in the mid-80s.  Despite the song's notoriety as a one hit wonder, the profoundness of its title--the analogy of life being an escalator--really rang true to me the other day.  The moment we are born, we step onto "The Escalator of Life."  Scared and unsure, we begin our lives with our parents guiding us onto the steps--supporting us and helping us as we gain our footing.  Preceding us are our older siblings, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.  As we ride the escalator, we are participating in life's journey.  There is no jumping off the escalator, or running backwards on it--the escalator propels us forward, unfaltering…persistent.  Our parents hold our hand, and soon we let go and hold onto the rails by ourselves.  As we move upward along the escalator, our perspective improves.  From further up the escalator, we can see more of our surroundings.  Similarly, as we age and mature, we move up our "escalator," our gained life experiences increasing our perspective, making us wiser (hopefully).  Up ahead we notice our great-grandparents and grandparents stepping off the escalator and onto the next level.  This is where our loved ones, and eventually we, will pass on to the afterlife.  When we lose our parents, and for some our older siblings, we have no one left in front of us on the escalator.  The reality is that our escalator ride and our life will have to eventually come to an end.  It can be scary, seeing the escalator step disappear under the next level, knowing we must disembark from the security and comfort of our ride.  However, if we know we have something wonderful and exciting ahead--the prospect of the afterlife--it becomes less fearful.  We see our loved ones waving to us from the next level and when we step off--the hand of our deceased parent or loved one will reach out to us and guide us safely off the escalator.