"Normally we do not like to think about death. We would rather think about life. Why reflect on death? When you start preparing for death you soon realize that you must look into your life...now...and come to face the truth of your self. Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected."
–Sogyal Rinpoche
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Every day is a blessing, even though some people––and I admit I was one of those––don’t exactly share this optimistic view of life. But yes, every day is a blessing, and I will espouse this mantra for the next few days, maybe even weeks, until my world crashes again because of the confluence of tight, unreasonable deadlines, a fast-depleting bank account, and maybe another heartbreaking liaison with a callous, infidel damsel.
I have had a midlife epiphany, a realization 22 years in the making, and it has made me appreciate not only my life but life in general. It has made me value life a lot more, not because it offers plenty of opportunities for money, fame, love, sex, laughter, and other worldly indulgences known to mankind, but because life itself has an unpredictable, often vacillating way of reminding us––you, me, and everybody else (yes, that includes even my ingrate, user-of-an-ex-girlfriend)––that we are all subject to one final, predictable eventuality: death.
Yeah, we all will die. At any given time, at this very moment even, we have one foot on the grave. No amount of money can ever counter the certainty of death. Science, in any way, shape, or form can never reverse our shared mortality. Not even witchcraft, voodoo, or magic can defy our final, collective destiny as mortals. We all live borrowed lives, and it can be taken away in a nanosecond, often when we least expect it.
This realization has made me accept the infirmity of my existence. I am well aware that ultimately, perhaps as early as later, people may be talking about me in the past tense. But more than accepting the transient nature of my life and life in general, I have realized that, one, I can never relive or get back every day, every second, I take for granted and, two, that I have no control over my future.
So while I can fill my life with regrets over the questionable, sometimes deplorable, things I did in the past––or, for that matter, over all those things that I should have done but never did––I will choose not to do so simply because regret will never change my past. And while I can, on the contrary, look forward to a bright, great future, I will choose no to expect too much because the only certainty in the future is uncertainty.
What I have is today, a chance to make more out of my life. It is a chance to be happy––to make others happy. This chance may never come again tomorrow for me, so I will I grab it with both fervor and gratitude. This day is a blessing simply because I can do what I want to do, what I need to do. Some people who took their days for granted never again had the chance to do anything anymore. I once took my days for granted but I no longer do now. Today is what I have, and I will make the most out of it because tomorrow may never again come.
I have had a midlife epiphany, a realization 22 years in the making, and it has made me appreciate not only my life but life in general. It has made me value life a lot more, not because it offers plenty of opportunities for money, fame, love, sex, laughter, and other worldly indulgences known to mankind, but because life itself has an unpredictable, often vacillating way of reminding us––you, me, and everybody else (yes, that includes even my ingrate, user-of-an-ex-girlfriend)––that we are all subject to one final, predictable eventuality: death.
Yeah, we all will die. At any given time, at this very moment even, we have one foot on the grave. No amount of money can ever counter the certainty of death. Science, in any way, shape, or form can never reverse our shared mortality. Not even witchcraft, voodoo, or magic can defy our final, collective destiny as mortals. We all live borrowed lives, and it can be taken away in a nanosecond, often when we least expect it.
This realization has made me accept the infirmity of my existence. I am well aware that ultimately, perhaps as early as later, people may be talking about me in the past tense. But more than accepting the transient nature of my life and life in general, I have realized that, one, I can never relive or get back every day, every second, I take for granted and, two, that I have no control over my future.
So while I can fill my life with regrets over the questionable, sometimes deplorable, things I did in the past––or, for that matter, over all those things that I should have done but never did––I will choose not to do so simply because regret will never change my past. And while I can, on the contrary, look forward to a bright, great future, I will choose no to expect too much because the only certainty in the future is uncertainty.
What I have is today, a chance to make more out of my life. It is a chance to be happy––to make others happy. This chance may never come again tomorrow for me, so I will I grab it with both fervor and gratitude. This day is a blessing simply because I can do what I want to do, what I need to do. Some people who took their days for granted never again had the chance to do anything anymore. I once took my days for granted but I no longer do now. Today is what I have, and I will make the most out of it because tomorrow may never again come.
2 comments:
as always..very well written. it has been a while, sigh, i miss college. well, today is the 29th, so i just wanted to greet you a happy birthday! take care always! =)
sorry to say this but ur X is not really that pretty for you to drool on
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