Leading by example
First thing first, life has no meaning whatsoever. We are too minuscule an entity in the grand schemes of the universe to ever make a lasting difference. Everything, including the noblest of our intentions, eventually perish with time. That said, we can always try. In fact, we must always try. Whatever little we can, we can should give in our very best. Who knows, we may just hit the bull’s eye of a solution and end up changing the world. At least a little bit. The reason I mention solution here is, this planet is ridiculously filled with problems. The problems aren’t going anywhere but the best part about them is they are never going to outnumber the solutions. And that’s the key to look at life in a brighter light.
At an individual level, we can either stay ignorant or enlightened. There is no middle way. But then again, the search for meaning could be as frustrating for somebody who is seeking meaning in the first place as it could be for somebody who stumbled upon it by mistake. The sheer level of comprehension required in such scenarios can be numbing. Or maybe it would be the best thing to have ever happened to a human being. Again, who knows?
I don’t know how but I think the answer perhaps lies in love. Somewhere, somebody is in dire need of care and we can become the differentiator by helping build a world that really cares. Because it’s a lie that we don’t care anymore, when the truth is we care more than any of our predecessors did. Just that we care about all the misgiving stuff: likes on FB/IG, opinions on social media, hoarding money, feckless consumerism, reputation, etc. If only we could direct this rivulet of care to benefiting our society in a graceful manner.
The question is, where do we start?
The answers aren’t going to be simple (obviously) but let’s start for a change: Reigniting kindness could be a good start; making compassion and empathy cool. Dragging the conversation back to how we need to lead a meaningful life could be another.
