Imagine you're in a world that has been gripped by some sudden pandemic, just like the one we saw during the COVID-19. And you see that hope is fading so fast. And then you are told the unthinkable, that the cure of this pandemic will be to sacrifice your only child.
This problem is like a classic trolley. But this time, it's not an experiment. Your only child.
Your everything. And to make it heavier and heartfelt, you know you'll never have any other child again. So what will come into your mind? Will you sacrifice your only child to save the world?
This question really hurts and it cuts like a knife. But for me, I want to share. The road to what I will do from my human side to make this impossible choice. As a parent, I know my child is my world, my family, my generation, and everything. Every hustle, every late night, I do it for my child.
So when I'm being faced by the thought of losing them it pains me a lot. I can't even imagine such a thing. Words cannot describe such an experience. If eventually a scientist came and said that saving the life of billions, billions, saving billions of lives.
My first reaction would be to scream, why my child? Why should I sacrifice my only child?
First of all, I want to protect them, to run far away from everyone. Because at that moment, I would think that everyone is evil.
But then, you have to pause and think about what true love really means. Love is not just about holding on. Sometimes love is just about letting go. Don't you think so?
Sacrificing your only child will feel like you using your hands to tear your own heart by yourself. But have you imagined a world filled with billions of people? Mothers, fathers, children. And they could all die.
If you make the wrong choices.
Then I would start to flicker on my purpose.
So my child life, which is so precious to me, is now a gift, or has now become a gift to humanity, or to save humanity. My child is now a legacy of hope. It's not about taking away the pains. It's about finding a way in my heart to carry this new meaning that I've just discovered of my child.
I want my child to be remembered for the rest of my life, and in generations to come, as a hero who changed the world. I know if I had to choose this path, I would spend every moment if I were to spend my life with my children, I would tell them stories of how their courage also saved lives at a point in time.
How their light always shined among or above others. And in my grief, I would find strength. I would try to comfort myself because I know the purpose was beyond my hand. This choice, I know will really break you. But it will also remind me that love can transcend even from the deepest lust no matter what.
So if you're anyone in life, you're facing a hard choice. Notice that sometimes, the greatest art of love comes by taking the greatest pain ever. But in that pain, is where we find a purpose, connection. And that is love.
That legacy that keeps us moving. My child's life must will be short but that also teaches us to love fiercely and selflessly, that is what we are looking for and that hold us to carry on no matter what.