Triumph of Life

Verily, life and time are fleeting. Yes, both are temporal, with relevant conditions and momentum. Sometimes, the way you live matters most upon your perception and realization regarding life.

With little tough situations in life, we oft become displeased and ill-tempered, but when we experience little good things, we swiftly forget its very meaning and worth.

Today afternoon, at my workplace, I saw one of our employees walking through the corridor, wearing his traditional garb. Seeing him, I thought of myself, maybe he is planning for annual vacation.

I gave a pat at his shoulder, and with a courteous greeting, I asked him, “Sir, how are you? It looks that you are heading for vacation to your home country.”

“Sure, I am going to my place on a final exit,” he expressed gleefully.

“Why Sir, is everything okay?" I asked him.

“O yes, everything is fine. I worked enough…almost forty years, and now I must go home to spend some time with my wife and children. I have spent this and that, seen cheery times and now it’s time to go,” he expressed without any pause.

Verily, life shouldn’t be all work, wealth, worldliness and worries. We, often being aloof from our dear families, get too engrossed in earning little things to make life more and more comfortable. 

When we, at a juncture, become conscious enough, we can examine ourselves what’s best we have lost and gained, what’s worthy that’s still there, and what’s uncertain that makes us anxious.

When we encounter hardships in our lives, we take stress that laces our minds and wobbles our hearts. We forget what’s with us…and needlessly, we think of tomorrow in worrying ways.

We ought to notice how birds, in the morning, take flight and return back to their nests with provisions in their beaks. Indeed, there’s lesson in this brief parable.

It’s human tendency to do things in haste and repent in vain. We build lofty mansions, but live like poor wanderers. We earn wealth, but become heedless of charities. We worry ourselves for petty issues, but forget to relish simple joys. We desire to sketch our lives with luxuries, but discard virtuous wisdom that’s good for our souls’ beatitude. We prefer worldly pleasures, but openly scorn simple verities of life.

Life’s all composed of ups and downs…if there’s sadness then we ought to persevere, and if there’s merriment then we ought to be content. If any thought troubles, let’s not get stuck in worsening depressions, but be ready to draw inspiration that can instill confidence and courage in our hearts.

Oftentimes, we harbor fear of failures and soon become timid, as if we’ve become devoid of faith. We forget our good past, we wonder what could be in future, and that way we falter aimlessly in our present situations.

What a paradox of human life! All for the miserable toil in worldly affairs, we keep ourselves busy. O, we dream a lot to shape our lives lenient, but think not to make it more virtuous. We spend our lives with vacillating patience and race ahead to become worldly-wise and popular. That way, we think we are winners!

I heard about a person who defines life in his own way. He’s leading a rewarding life, with three decades of work life as an expatriate. All these years, he made wealth in abundance…with savings in banks, vacant plots in posh areas, and finally he built a multi-floor residential complex. He is all toiling hard and living like a ‘forced bachelor’ in a foreign country while his wife is all vigilant about domestic chores, rental income and children’s education.

“Well, I have reached my life’s target...even if there’s recession in economy or job loss, there’s nothing to worry,” he commented in a selfish manner.

Once, he said in a lighter tone, “I have earned wealth, savings and property, and now I want a little fame while being a member in a welfare society.”