What is Life?

"What is Life?" - It's a question which I am sure all of us wonder at sometime or the other. Different people associate different meanings to life. A poet sees life as a sweet song, a writer thinks life is an enigmatic story, a musician thinks life is a melodious note. An immigrant thinks life is a constant struggle. To the amateur, life is a challenge; to the professional, life is an achievement. An optimist views life as an enchanting dream; a pessimist worries that life may be a nightmare, a living hell, to be precise. How many times have you cursed "life sucks!" when you were disappointed? And how many times have you said "life is great!" when you saw everything going well. Well, this is all part and parcel of life. Life is a series of ups and downs. It is a 'Mapquest' route which does not give you directions in advance. Haven't you heard "I don't know where my life is going!"? You can try your best to navigate it to where you want but there is a supreme hand on the steering wheel already! You never know "what" course life takes and "when", "why" will always keep you wondering, so don't bother worrying about it. Just take life as it comes.

When you feel low, think of the happy times and draw hope. There is a little exercise that I started doing many years back. Whenever I felt overwhelmed with problems in my life, I took a pen and paper and started writing down the blessings in my life. Trust me, you will always be pleasantly surprised with the list you come up with. Then you think, "Well, life is not bad at all!" It gives you the strength to move on. Remembering all the people who love you and care for you also helps in knowing and feeling wanted. It gives you the inspiration to live. Mother Teresa said that the disease most common in the world is to feel that you are "unwanted". Feeling wanted is the fuel to the soul. If you can, you shouldn't lose a chance to make someone feel wanted. If your smile can bring a smile on someone's lips, that's the best gift you can give them.

Sometimes I wonder if life is fair to me, then I think "have I been fair to life?" Being fair to life means living life in an enriching way. It involves realizing how precious life is and treating it with care and dignity. It's well-said - "one should add life to years not years to life"! Make every moment memorable, happy and blissful. Hurdles come in life, but the important thing is to move on. There is no point in stopping because anyway life goes on. Mistakes occur, to err is human, after all, but the important thing is to learn from the mistakes and never repeat them again.

Light and darkness are two sides of the same coin. If you do not experience darkness, how will you know its difference from light and how will you appreciate light? One of the thumb rules in my life is a nature's rule - every dark night ends with a bright sunrise. No one can change it. It just happens. The courage lies in waiting, looking forward to that sunrise and even working towards that sunrise.

Life is a journey, an interesting one, enjoy the journey and do not worry about destination. Just know what you want and strive for it. What you get maybe even better. Life is a series of surprises; it unfolds mysteries that maybe good or bad. Sometimes what appears to be bad turns out to be a blessing in disguise.

Life is beautiful! No doubt about it. Its beauty lies in its grace and charm. You can make it as beautiful as you wish. Hope and Optimism are the most important cosmetics to make life prettier. I can never forget the definition of optimism that my brother gave me in our childhood, which is a classic example of optimism but it is special to me because that was the first time I heard it-- when you see a glass half full of water, look at the half that's full, not the half that's empty. It helped; it always helps when you are gloomy, nervous or disheartened. Raise your spirits and cheer up! Life is a cake, enjoy it, and even add your own icing. Don't worry about the calories. Open yourselves up and feel the beauty and love of life. Yes, life loves you as much as you love it! Fall in love with your life and savor every moment as if that moment will never return...it will never return. Express your love to your loved ones and do all that you have ever wanted to do for them.

I read this proverb in my school days and liked it very much but I understood its real meaning only later in life:
"Life is a mirror which reflects back at you
If you look at it smiling, it will smile back at you"

So smile, laugh, live, love! It will all come back to you. Just keeping a positive attitude helps so much. Life is a promise if you have the determination to fulfill it. It is a dream to be realized, an experience to be lived, it is a feeling to be enjoyed, a memory to be created and cherished.

Life is as you make it, or even simply, Life is as you live it!

- Pooja Jaiswal

<!--<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:trackback="http://madskills.com/public/xml/rss/module/trackback/"><rdfescription rdf:about="http://netrii.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1224" dc:identifier="http://netrii.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1224" dc:title="What is Life?" trackbacking="http://netrii.com/rpc/trackback/1224"/></rdf:RDF>-->

 

Dear Mindi,
Thank you so much for the encouragement. I'm glad you liked my article and more than that, I'm glad you had a great day!
Have a great weekend,
Pooja

 

Thank you Sunitha, Alpa, Sundarusha and Nandshyam. This article is very dear to my heart. I wrote it 3 years back but I strongly believe in every word of it even today. I'm very happy that you guys liked it and have drawn positive energy from it.

Pooja