Two
incidents which happened quite close together reminded me how fragile and
temporary life really is .
Around three
weeks ago I visited one of the schools I work with and met a lady who was in Middle management .
I often saw here whenever I visited . She assisted me that particular day and
chatted animatedly for a few minutes as she usually did – always cheeful and
smiling .One morning , ten days later she felt breathless & was rushed
to hospital . Blockages were found
and a stent was put . She came home and was on the road to recovery .
A few days
later she felt out of sorts again , was taken back to hospital again and passed
away later that day . She leaves behind grieving friends and relatives . It all
seems to have happened in a blur .
A week or so
ago , once again in a school , a gentleman came to see me after a function . We
chatted for a while , exchanged pleasantries & took a few photographs . He sounded excited about his son going to college in a
few months’ time and about the upcoming board examinations .
Two days later
I
heard he had travelled abroad , had
suddenly developed a serious health problem and
needed an urgent procedure to be
performed . The same was carried out and he is recovering well by God’s grace – need I add, he is a lovely gentleman .
Thinking
about such things often make me well up and feel sad .
Is life unfair
? Is it far too fragile for us humans to cope? Are we ever going to be prepared
?
We often get
so caught up in the day to day chores , jobs and accompanying worries , living life in the fast lane that we
find no time to pause, reflect and smell the roses . The destination is always
beckoning us and we are always in “fast forward” mode.
Everything
is either a race , a chase or a competition and we have conditioned ourselves
to enjoy it or so we believe .
Often I remark
about our lives as educationists, preparing
pupils for life ten or fifteen years hence, while not actually having a clue what life has
in store for any of us a minute from now . In reality , there are no
guarantees and all you can do is live , love and be the best version of
yourself as possible .
I know this
is easier said than done but we need to take ourselves away from the
artificial aspects of life and the things that wont matter in the long run and
learn to appreciate what we have in the “now” because at any time it can all
end .
At the start
of every year you hear people talking about how “this year” they will tick items
off their bucket list -:
The sky dive
they are dying to do
The trip up
to the Everest base camp
The book
they planned to write ( me )
However we
keep putting off the start and we choose to stay busy while complaining about the
paucity of time to indulge in our pet projects .
While
planning ahead and striving for new goals is admirable, we also need to enjoy
the present moments and celebrate our successes however small and insignificant
they may seem at the moment .
We all have
to deal with minor annoyances and inconveniences in our lifetime but we should learn to complain less and
parctice gratitude instead .
Envy, hate,
anger, jealousy are all toxic emotions that eat us up – we know that for a fact
but that does not prevent us from letting them fuel our passions and emotions
to frightening proportions . At times It's fine to take inspiration from others
& to admire their life style and
achievements but that can lead to envy and do more harm than good .
Often we
look at neighbours, friends and colleagues and the life they lead – the fun,
the frolic, the fancy cars and sprawling mansions but we must remind ourselves that we don’t actually know the life they lead
– their regrets, insecurities, and self doubts which they could be masking with
a smile – it’s the truth !
Facebook and
Instagram do make for happy families and continous good times ! The fact that
we know that many are faking it does nothing to stop us from pressing the “like”
button
On closer
inspection we need to embrace the life we have , leaving behind the negativity
and that which does not matter .
A lot of our
time, energy and passion is wasted in
futile pursuits in trying to change the world instead of trying to change ourselves and therin lies the
problem . We are reckless with the time at our disposal in the present , passified
by the assumption that our future will be enriched by the things we hope to do .
I am often reminded
of the lines from As you Like it by William Shakespeare and spoken by Jaques
“ All the world’s a stage,
And all the
men and women merely players;
They have their
exits and their entrances;
And one man
in his time plays many parts”
The day we
are born, the curtain goes up and we start playing that first part– there are
no practices and no dress rehearseals and
we are thrown head first into the final
show – there is only one chance to prove
ourselves .
Life is an
extremely precious and fragile gift
& we need to make the most of it because, like a china pot , it can easily
fall and shatter into a thousand pieces and all that would be left would be
tears in other peoples eyes .
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