The Perplexing Paradox Called Life

It is true that we only live once. We get but one life. So, must we do whatever we want to do, and not care about the world?  Should we throw caution to the wind, forget the world, break rules, and not care about a single thing?

Look at it from this point of view. Is our life ours to call our own? Think about it. Did we come into this world of our own accord? Did we learn what we know, ourselves? The answer is no. Our parents brought us into the world. They taught us everything they knew, and more. Every step we took, they walked along. Every time we fumbled and fell, they picked us up. Our life has been their life since the moment they took our whimpering mass in their embrace. Our story has been theirs; our troubles their bane and our happiness their joy.

‘It’s my life and I’ll do what I want to do.’ Does this sound right, then? I mean, are we not thinking at all when we say that?

And it’s not just our parents whose story we’ve been part of. We owe so much to so many people. Everything we do affects people who care about us. How, then, can we be so selfish as to not care about how our actions would affect them? I mean, you just cannot just get up and leave one day; decide that you want to do something and forget about people who love you, while doing it. No man is an island. Our life is a patchwork of stories knitted together at the seams; sometimes overlapping.  If one patch is taken out, the patchwork will be incomplete. There’ll be a gaping hole through which cold air will enter and ruffle all the other patches.

So it’s almost evident that things we do affect others. We owe our lives to others and should think about them when we plan to act. Our life has been granted to us to fulfill certain karmic balances, and fulfill them we must. That does not mean that we should stop living and not do anything that others object to. Of course, they can be wrong too and, anyway, we cannot let others control our life. We must indulge ourselves and make our lives large. The right thing is to find a middle path.  Convince others that something makes us happy and if they care about us, they’ll agree. The world will say a lot of things; we must know what the right thing to do is.

Because doing what we want might be a great way to live our life, but only a life lived for others is a life worth living.

Decisions Decisions

Sometimes, in life, we find ourselves under certain circumstances and situations. Like, studying a certain course, or working a certain job, or living in a place that’s not home, etcetera, etcetera. The point is that we may not always like the situation we are in. If we do, that’s well and good. Kudos. But, if we don’t, what do we do? Now, a part of us may dismiss it as a stage in our life, leading us to believe that we are meant to be here, that this is what is best for us, and that this is what is destined. The other part, knowing fully well that we are not happy, might urge us to break free. It may insinuate thoughts that assert that we are destined for greater things and that we should be doing what we love; after all, life is too short to be moping around. This creates such a paradox and plunges us deeper into the darkness of our thoughts.  

Do we listen to our brain or our heart? That’s the burning question. Do we fight destiny, take the risk, and follow our heart, or do we sensibly do what the brain thinks right? If earlier asked advice on this topic, being the emotional fool that I am, I would surely have said “Go with your heart, isn’t it obvious?”  But, now that I really think about it, I must admit that it is a rather daunting line of thought. Surely destiny knows what’s right for us, doesn’t it? But, what if this is not our destiny and destiny actually wants us to follow our heart?

Destiny sure knows how to play a mean game. You know what they say. You have to follow the signs. Destiny has a lot in store for you but it needs some work on your part. It’s just like, when you want to have a good meal, you need to step out and go to a restaurant. You need to order some food, pick up the fork and put the food in your mouth. Yes, destiny would take care of which restaurant you go to and which dish you order. *Winks* But, if you just sit around saying “Oh, one of these days I’ll eat something really good,” God alone help you. *Shakes head* But signs, or rather what constitutes signs, is not always reliable. The last time I tried to follow signs, *sighs* I ‘almost’ missed a flight. But that’s a story for another time. The question is how to figure out the path of destiny. Do we take the road less travelled, like Robert Frost did, or do we continue along the downtrodden path? How can we be sure about any of the paths? Maybe there is a middle path for us? Alas, surety eludes one and all. Surety never comes.

It cannot be guaranteed that we will be successful if we take the alternative path. Especially when we are not sure if we are any good at what the heart tells us to do, and if we will ever find any success in it. At this point, we may think that it’s better to continue along the known route. After all, who knows what the big picture is? As has been rightly said, if you were a fly walking across a drawing, all you’d be able to see is green, then blue, then yellow. Only if you got in the air before the swat came down would you see that the colours belonged to a big drawing, with every colour being just where it was meant to be. So, why shouldn’t we smugly dismiss our circumstances as being part of a bigger picture? We will never know the answer, will we? All we can do is close our eyes and take a leap of faith.*Gives a comforting smile :P*