I had written a blog post titled “Life Reflections” on my old blog (which has been defunct for a couple of years now) while I was sick for a week or so back in school. Well, I’ve been sick for a few days now, my idle mind is drifting to similar thoughts and I haven’t been blogging nearly as frequently as I want, so I decided to do an update of that blog post with more thoughts added in.
If you’re reading on, brace yourself for unnecessary philosophy, mindless twin-persona monologues and and hazy strings of thoughts that phases between deep comprehension and thoughtless blabber.
We may be human beings, the most advanced organism on planet Earth. But at the core, we are animals created as the product of evolution, and at the most fundamental level our very purpose is to be born, perform actions that extend the survival of ourselves and our species, before eventually succumbing to biological decay. From such a perspective, our lives don’t matter at all, no more than how lives of animals matter to us. But the lives of animals matter to them, and our own lives and what we do with it matter to us. After all, we’re a strange combination of stardust seeking to bring meaning and joy to our lives day after day.
As we grow our life becomes a rivulet that flows faster, stronger and over new ground. Little adventures in the backyard of our house turn to real life conquests, as we break new ground. We explore new places and experiences, driven by responsibility, excitement or even fear. The only thing that remains constant is our evolution as an individual as we become moulded to fit into whatever role we are destined to be, for better or for worse.
Make no mistake, I’m not criticising the present society. I’m glad that my problems extend only to choosing career options and not factions in a civil war. People have suffered, and some even continue to suffer from much worse things than an ‘accelerated life’ around the world.
Too many of us wish if life had a pause button. I couldn’t wait to be an adult when I hit my early teens, but now I just want time to slow down. I don’t want to know how people about to go past their youth feel about the same. Of course, the world might be full of opportunities and waiting to be taken, but once lost these don’t come back. I’ve had many regrets about decisions I’ve taken in the past as well as many decisions that led to such good times that it left me wondering why it felt like a decision I had to evaluate in the first place. I’m sure that every one of us have similar experiences in life, of decisions that we would rue or celebrate. It is, of course, impossible to take every opportunity that come by in life, But I now believe that that forgoing something that is done routinely for something else that breaks the monotony and promises memories that will last is worth doing.
The worst feeling is when there are factors at play that are not entirely in our control. When you fall sick days before an event or an occasion that you’ve been looking forward to forever, or something equally unexpected that you couldn’t have stopped or controlled leaving you feeling like a bystander to your own life. These times come and go, and a hope for better days and plenty of Coldplay and Owl City music are often the only things that keep me (And perhaps you too) going.
The present generation lives in a world of expectations and limited paths to walk through. Even if a soul is brave enough to walk the lonely path not taken, they are usually dragged down by the pressure to do what is expected; the pressure to be normal. Only a few take steps as a professional to breath life into his childhood goals. Fewer achieve them. Introverts like myself tend to fade away almost naturally and settle into niche social circles while another section makes their life seem effortless. The cornerstone of social imbalance is perhaps this bottling of youth into a limited spectrum. Those who can’t fit in are made to feel rejected.
So, I believe sometimes everyone needs to slow down, take a moment and reflect on their lives, and those of ones around them. Happiness is not meant to be something you get in little bursts , it is meant to be an emotion that should always accompany you. And if you feel lost or depressed like I have so many times, take a moment and pause your life. Spend some time alone, or with people whom you want to spend time with. Go for a bike ride, meditate for a while, visit the beach or do anything that unplugs you from your daily worries. Maybe the few minutes of inner peace is all you need.
I’m wrapping up by saying once again I’m no philosopher or expert in anything, just a person who likes to think a lot, and I’m not even sure if I’m putting many of the things I wrote about in this post into practice myself. In fact, I probably am not. I’m posting this article and going to bed, hoping to wake up to a better tomorrow. And if you’ve read this far (Or if you just skipped to end, either way) I hope you will too.
