I was talking to a friend to explain why life is in fact simple but its humans who make it complicated. He was complaining about being unhappy with a monotonous life and still couldn’t do anything about it. I argued of course there was a whole lot he could do but just wouldn’t because like most humans, he did not want to move out from the used ways of life. But he argued back that was not the point, many people were focused in life and knew exactly what direction to take it to. I said yes that was fine as long as they knew that’s what they wanted.
He brought examples of Malayatoor Ramakrishnan who put away his writing ambitions to a later part of life but still manages to be remembered as one of the great writers of Malayalam. I said yes we knew him, but what if the later part didn’t come. Life, is one area we can safely say we know nothing about – how many people can say without blinking an eye, they will live up to 60? So when people say “I have decided to do all the work now and not enjoy – that could come when I am 45 – then I would relax and enjoy life,” I am amazed. They seem to know exactly how long they had to live, and what their conditions would be at each stage. I for one have no idea if I will be alive at 45, or for that matter what my conditions will be. Forget 45, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow.
This was my argument: Humans don’t realize that they had all the freedom in this world to do anything they wanted to – and I mean in a good sense (not the kind of freedom to go and explode one half of the world!). But they don’t even think about doing it. “Impractical” seems to be everyone’s favorite word. And who makes it so? They do.
We have one life and we can do all the experiments with it – only with that single life. We can’t play with someone else’s life. And we choose every day of it, how to live it and what to do with it. Yet we decide to go through uncomfortable zones citing reasons of impracticality and sacrifices and all that you must have all heard of when you tried to think out of the everyday life.
Why? What would happen if we move out of the path we were somehow set upon. All you have to do is look at the worst thing that could happen if you moved out of it and then wonder if that was so bad – as compared to living the one known way of life forever and not knowing or tasting anything else.
Anything! We could do anything. Why do we then stick to things we hate and dislike? Everyone says there are certain rules everyone is compelled to obey because of “society”, “obligations”, blah and blah! Life is a miracle, it’s a gift. All you have got are the few years in your hands – don’t push things you want to do for later, cause you don’t know if there will be a later. Don’t hesitate to try things, to experiment, to do…. because you always have a choice.
Story of a lost journalist 