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- Issue No. 47
Issue No. 47
We live on borrowed time.
When I heard of my grandfather's death, I searched for the only photo of him on my phone. Then I asked myself, “how can someone who was once alive, brimming with joy, jokes, and stories, now be gone forever?” As I gaze into his eyes in the photo, I can still feel his presence in my thoughts. Yet, in reality, he exists no more. I will never be able to hold him again. Never.
Death is often perceived as an event, but in truth, it is a gradual process that commences at birth. Each passing day ages us, bringing us closer to the inevitable without necessarily advancing our well-being. Our daily survival routine merely maximizes the time we have, and the few additional years it might offer are but a fleeting moment. We know that we approach the unavoidable. Despite this knowledge, many of us merely exist instead of truly living. Look around—most of us are just existing. While it may not be right, even a monkey caged in a zoo enjoys more freedom, as they can be themselves without worry or prejudice.
When will we learn to demand the best for ourselves? To truly experience life, witness the world, love someone, lend a helping hand, offer compliments, learn new things, create something unique , contemplate the secrets of the universe, and ponder what lies beyond it? I don’t mean to merely travel, to blindly seek pleasure, or to enjoy activities here and there for the sake of it. They are distractions. If you travel and comes back the same person, you did not travel. You just distracted yourself. The same problems and anxities will haunt you.
We live on borrowed time. I vividly remember being 19, and in the blink of an eye, I'm now 27. This brings me back to a question I had as a kid: Why do older people shy away from discussing their age? What's so shameful about it? Isn't age a testament to the richness of one's life, something to take pride in? I've always pondered this, and now I understand.
People aren't ashamed because they’re old; they're ashamed because they're old and nowhere near where they hoped to be.
They look at the younger generation and think, "If I were their age, I could have done better." It's regret in a not-so-obvious form. As this regret grows with age, individuals become bitter old souls, essentially hating themselves. You don't want to become like that. Only much later in life do we realize that these insecurities are baseless. Ask a 70-year-old lady about her age, and she often responds positively. By then, she's liberated from the vanities of the world, and her age becomes proof of a life well-lived. "I'm 70 years young," she might joke. She knows she's on borrowed time. She has become aware.
When will you become aware of your life? When will you stop merely existing on a boat and start diving into the sea of self-exploration? Seek what makes you happy, what makes you excited, and gets you out of bed every morning. Find it. Pursue it. Seek it. Not everyone has this luxury, but if you do, do it now. Time is limited, and we are vulnerable flesh supported by a skeleton, hoping that a sharp stick or internal cellular anomaly won't take our lives. Everything can be taken away from us. Time has no mercy and we are slaves to it. Sooner or later, it will eventually claim us all.
Go live now.
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Until next week,
Author of Silent Contemplations
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly Sunday Stillness newsletter. Every Sunday you receive a guide to mindfulness and personal growth so that you can become the person you want to be. I share ideas and wisdom I gathered from experience, books, and other people.