Trying to make sense of what life is all about

The other day, I read about parents finding their 4 year old son suffer from blood cancer. Life changed for them. They didn’t wish for. I saw this amputee, a veteran from Iraq war come to me for counseling when I practiced in USA. His life changed and there was nothing he could do other than adapt. There was resignation written all over his face. I visited my friend in ER who just suffered from a heart attack. His eyes begged for an extension of life. Fear gripped not just him but his family. Fear of the unknown occupied everyone’s mind. I heard my father call me over phone and express his worry about my sickness. He said, "You and I are living by ourselves. Got to take care". Fear of being isolated further, sure, ran through his mind. Not the money, comforts or being cared for. Being lonely during his last days was bothering him than living.

Life, as one sees it, will offer a lot of choices. But beneath those choices lies one’s belief system. You either give up or fight. You acknowledge your deficits and learn to live with it or have regrets. You feel blessed for living or find the hard facts of life causing turmoil and wonder whether this birth is worth going through the process till your breathing stops.

People listen to Sadguru, Osho Rajneesh, Sai Baba. Bible, Koran and Bhagavad Gita are open books for anyone to read and inculcate. It is nice to listen, read and try to understand. But the moment the words stop to resonate and life continues, fear engulfs. Steve Jobs’ open letter reminds you to spend time with your family and friends, travel and do things that you kept postponing. Easier said than done. Robin Williams made it clear that nobody cares a f..k even if you keep them laughing. He ended his life to prove just that. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X didn’t want their life to end. So did John F Kennedy and his brother Robert. No one had a choice to end it like they would have wanted. They believed heaven was on earth. They were robbed of it.

Being told that one is right or wrong and believing, being ridiculed for having views not acceptable to their near or dear ones and suffering because of it, living a life not one wished but for the acceptance of the society we live in just to keep moving, being pushed to the point of no return with time left not enough to correct making our lives on this earth end even before we begin to live for once the way we would have wanted- regrets is what we end up with. Getting hurt is a choice. Living life to the fullest is also a choice. Don’t look back. Move on for there is no tomorrow that is guaranteed.

~kripa