How Long to the Point of No Return?

At the moment of surrender
I folded to my knees.
I did not notice the passers by,
And they did not notice me.
--U2, "Moment of Surrender."

I saw a kid today walking along the side of the highway. Maybe seventeen, eighteen years old. No shirt on, angry expression on his face, can of beer in his hand. It was 7:30 a.m.

I spent the rest of the day working in the woods--forester stuff. Woods work lends itself to reflection, and occasionally deep thinking. It's quiet, lonely work, but this makes it conducive to thought. Most of the foresters I know are closet philosophers as a result. My mind kept returning to the kid.

We talk a lot about "choice" in the United States. The "right" to choose, or the "consequences" of choice, loosely and glibly saying things like "you can be anything you want to be if you just set your mind to it" or "you can be president of the United States someday if you want to."

I don't know about all that. I think sometimes your choices are limited, are already made for you, and you are left to work with the hand you've been dealt.

What about the kid? I kept wondering "is there a definitive point, a defining moment, a specific instance in time, when a conscious decision is made by someone that this is the way my life is going to be?" A point of realization--an awakening--that has the potential to define the rest of your life.

A point when this young kid thought "there's no future for me."

A point when a child with a deformity realizes that people look away when he comes into a room.

A point when an orphan decides "nobody really loves me."

A point when a couple decides "this relationship just isn't worth saving."

A point when an old person realizes they're going to die alone.

If there is such a point, and I believe there must be, it is one of the great tragedies of life.

I hope that I can somehow help one person I encounter to never reach this point of no return.

I hope you'll at least think about joining me.