Zile Singh
New Year – New Life
Life is the greatest gift one can aspire to and enjoy. The dictionary meaning of life is the condition that distinguishes active human beings, animals, and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, functional activity, and continual change preceding death. Here are some words related to life:- lifeblood, lifeboat, lifeguard, lifeless, lifelike, lifeline, lifelong, lifer, lifesaver, lifestyle, lifetime, and lifework.
To live an ideal and purposeful life, set a goal. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi
An ideal life is a process that includes our whole being – physical, psychological, and spiritual. People generally die as they have lived. Living presents challenges many would like to avoid or ignore. Life makes us think of time, space, and emotions that increase our heartbeats. Life is a span between our first and last breaths. It is not just a bowl of cherries but a chain of eerie disappointments also. Let us remember that disappointment is a great instigator. From it emerge the seeds of change. When we feel sorry for our own doings, it strengthens our longing for an alternative and determination to find a better way to live.
Life can be as you like it or as you dislike it. Life of a man is a winter’s day and a winter’s way. Life is beautiful but not always easy; it has problems too. The challenge lies in facing the problems with courage, letting the beauty of life act as a balm that makes the pain bearable by providing hope. Happiness and sorrow, victory and defeat, pleasure, and pain, are the two sides of the same coin called life. Life is strife. There is no human being strong enough who has not experienced the struggle and suffering of life. Strength lies in facing life as it comes. There is no doubt that there is no gain without pain. It is only when one toils and sweats it out that success is nourished and sustained. Thus, life cannot be just a bed of roses; thorns are also a part of it and should be accepted. The thorns remind us of how success and happiness can be evasive and, thus, not feel disappointed and disheartened; rather, remember that the pain of thorns is short-lived, and the beauty of life will soon overcome the prick of thorns. When we sing “roses, roses, all the way,” we must keep in mind that ‘there is no rose without a thorn. “Roses, roses, all the way” is an expression taken from the first line of Robert Browning’s poem “The Patriot,” where it describes the throwing of roses at a popular hero as he passed through the streets.
Those who are under the impression that life is a bed of roses are soon disillusioned and become victims of depression and frustration. One who faces difficulties with courage and accepts success without letting it go to one’s head is the one who experiences real happiness, contentment, and peace in life. He heaves a sigh of relief. To sum up, life would be too smooth if it had no rubs in it. One cannot deny that the longer one lives, the more wonders one sees. Childhood, adulthood, and old age all have their plus and minus aspects. For a healthy, wealthy, and wise life, one must leave the minus part and embrace the positive. Robert Browning was apt to say, “Grow old with me. The best is yet to be.” If lived wisely, life is a celebration from the beginning to the end. Those who harboured bad habits died young. A balanced life is an ideal life. Extremes are always bad. A friend of mine, living in Vancouver (Canada), is running the 102nd year of his life’s marathon with reasonable physical agility and sound mental health. Kudos to Mr. Khushi Ram. On his 100th, he was felicitated by Her Majesty, the Queen of Great Britain (now deceased), Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Canada, Premier of British Columbia, High Commissioner of India and many others.
Life can be beautiful every moment. Being alive in the present moment is a celebration. Every day of your life is a leaf in your history. It is a pilgrimage. The possibilities of life are infinite. Courage, perseverance, and the true character of a human being can lick the nectar from the bowl called life. Some say that ‘life begins at forty. Others opine that life begins and ends every moment. Every breath is a new life. “Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking to find it.”- Niels Bohr. Human life is like a candle in the wind or hoarfrost on the tiles. We need a keen eye to see the positive side of life to unearth its profundity. It would not be out of place to say that life would be joyful if we see it in its poetic format. Every life matters. May it be white, black, brown, first nation or untouchables in India.
People who think that all is good in life easily succumb to pressure and depression. The bad side of life cannot be ignored. We can take the example of a student who burns the midnight oil and resists diversion and laziness to make a mark. A successful executive has to face the ups and downs of corporate life, not forgetting that life is a mix of joy and sorrow. The strongest of kings and emperors also were not spared of their cups of woes. Prayer and faith give strength to come out of bad situations in life.
Osho, a new-age philosopher, described life as follows:
“Take hold of your own life. See that the whole existence is celebrating. The trees are not serious; the birds are not serious. The rivers and the oceans are wild, and everywhere there is fun, everywhere there is joy and delight. Watch existence, listen to the existence, and become part of it.”
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.”- Bill Copeland.
Life is in us and around us. We have to grasp it. That is ‘enlightenment.’
Zile Singh is a well respected Columnist, Writer and a Vipassana Meditater. He has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights. He can be reached at zsnirwal@yahoo.ca
