Thinking about Life

Since I was a little girl, I have been amazed by how unpredictable and complicated life can be. I have always felt a lack of control when thinking about our journey through life. I have heard so many theories about the evolution of the Earth and the Universe, and it does not make sense to me how nature can be so perfectly designed but simultaneously so randomly unpredictable.

I have finally given up on it. I no longer want to know where we come from or why things happen.  Last year was incredibly

challenging for us.  It was filled with unexpected illness in our family, financial strain, and unusual events. When that happens, you feel impotent and have a sense of unfairness.  At the same time, you ponder what's important in life.

It is so easy to fall into the trap of living to acquire and accomplish things. Since that is how society measures success, we all do it and get overwhelmed by it.  It is so nice to buy whatever we want, whenever we want to. However, it is tough to balance life so that we can work and get the things we want, but we can also spend time with our families, relax, appreciate nature, meditate, and become more connected.

What is it that we read so much about how important taking care of ourselves is but cannot apply consistently in our lives?  In the past few years, I have made drastic decisions in my career path.  These decisions have impacted my life in a very positive way.  As a family, we have had to make some financial adjustments, but to my surprise, even when it initially made me feel really anxious, it has not been as difficult as I thought it would be.

As a society, we have lost so much in our quest to become "successful" people. We do not have time for anything anymore. I was amazed at how everything was done electronically this past holiday season.

 

We do not connect with people anymore, we do not receive holiday cards anymore, and we do not bake, cook, or sing. I have personally refused to stop doing the fun things that made life special.

I enjoy sitting down and writing a note to my family and friends, wishing them a wonderful new year. I also love taking pictures and sharing them with the people I care about. It is one of the things that brings me so much joy.

It is interesting how taking a picture has become a sin these days. People are so afraid that a picture will end up on the internet that I wonder what will happen when we pass away, and our kids do not have a tangible memory of all the moments they shared with us.

I refuse to become paranoid about this. Am I cautious? Yes, I am. However, I am also aware of all the joy that reminiscing about my childhood by looking at old photos and videos brings to my life. Every time we want to have a good laugh, we put on an old family movie and relive those moments when our daughter was little and spent time with my parents and all the happiness they experienced with her.

Life is time-bound. We are born, and there will be an end. We should not look at life as eternal because when we do that, we always procrastinate, have fun, and enjoy the present.

We often think that "when we retire," we are going to enjoy life. What we need to think about is that if we do not take care of ourselves because we are constantly working, when we retire, we could face so much tiredness and illness or many other situations that they will prevent us from enjoying it.

We should prioritize living in the present. Life will take care of itself, and when our time comes to leave this planet, our family will always treasure those moments and will remember us with joy and happiness. That is the true purpose of our journey. Have a wonderful year!