As in the case of lines, you are likely to stop when you are no longer sure you should go further – at the rear edge of the region of uncertainty.*
Daniel Kahneman

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.**
The Apostle Paul

You know you will always remember
this moment,
When the news arrives
Where you were,
What you were doing.

Yesterday was such a moment for me:
The news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II –
Though I am not a monarchist
I’m probably and Elizabethist.

Only two days earlier,
She had been carrying out her constitutional
duties,
Receiving the resignation of one prime minister,
Appointing their successor.

We each have duties,
Shaped by who we are
and the constraints of where we are.

Erich Fromm reflects
in his 20th century way:

When man is born, the human race as well as individual, he is throw out of a situation which was definite, as definite as the instincts, into a situation which is indefinite, uncertain and open.^

Through the abdication of her uncle,
Elizabeth would one day become Queen.
Who imagined in
1936
that she would still be reigning in
2022;
We might conclude, constraints and skill can lead to something
significant.

I cannot imagine myself making
96,
But each day,
I want to do my duty.

I like to think Queen Elizabeth had some fun along the way:

Here in 2012,
And again in 2022

Rest in peace, Ma’am.

*Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, fast and Slow;
**2 Timothy 4:7
^Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving.