Hope is right beside you. The future is ahead.
How many adults are there
who are living the exact future they imagined
when they were children?
I wonder.
Even those who seem happy
have surely had days when they shed tears of frustration,
and nights when they couldn't sleep from the pain.
Yet, I have always admired
the way they keep moving forward.
And then, I realized.
Even if you don't reach the future you imagined,
walking your own path
is wonderful in itself.
If you look around,
the city is filled with the radiance of such people.
All that's left is for me to notice it.
Hope has always been right beside me.
So, there is no need to rush,
just keep walking with dedication.
What kind of future shall I walk toward next?
<Afterword>
At the beginning of this year, a listener's message sent to a radio program I always listen to has stayed in my heart. The sender was a mother with a son in college. Her son was dedicated to track and field and entered a powerhouse university for ekiden (road relay) through general entrance exams. Among the talented athletes gathered from all over the country through recommendations, he spent four years immersed in track and field, determined to prove that he, too, could run in the Hakone Ekiden.
And then came the 2025 Hakone Ekiden—his final tournament.
The result was that he did not get to run as a competitor.
Even so, he was appointed as a 'water station attendant' to support his teammates, and he ran in the Hakone he had longed for, even if only for a short distance. The mother wrote warmly about how moved she was by that sight, and how she received a thank-you email from her son after the tournament.
I cannot even imagine the effort he put in. While ekiden is a sport of 'passing the sash,' it also has a side where athletes compete for a spot on the regular team. The fact that he was a player whom others wanted to entrust with the role of water attendant speaks volumes about his character. The first and last view of Hakone—how did it look in his eyes? I don't know his face or his name, but just imagining him there fills my heart.
I have wanted to tell someone about this for a long time, but I always get close to tears and can't speak well, so I wanted to leave it quietly in this place. May his life continue to be filled with hope.