5/6/10, 2:00 AM
I know I haven’t posted in a while. I have been really busy and I enjoy being out of the house and hanging out with friends as much as possible, since I am able to do so now. By the time I have some time to relax and write up my thoughts, I’m already pretty mentally drained. My friends’ brains function as a blog occasionally. I wrote up a much needed post several weeks ago, but I have yet to post it because it seems way too jumbled.
I just read something online that is keeping me awake right now. I won’t delve into the subject matter that I read about, but I will say that it certainly hit me.
How much time do we have to waste? How long are we really here for? Many of you will say, “Well, I’ll probably be around for a while. I know life is short, but it’ll be a relatively long and successful life.” But how many of us, if we were given a time period to live, would know what to do?
If we were told we had a certain amount of months or a few years to live, I think that people would take this in a few different ways. Some people would become more religious, in hopes of atonement for their sins. They would also try and help others, perhaps. Some people would go wild and try to have as much fun as possible so they can “go out with a bang”.
What if someone tells you that you have up to about the age of 50 or 60 to live? Would this complicate things? Your college years have already been experienced. By this age, you would probably be very much into “real life”. Maybe you would have a job, a spouse, and/or children. What is there to do now? Would you look back and regret the choices and things that you did or did not do? I can imagine older people contemplating their younger years and yearning for something else.
So how can we prevent these thoughts? Personally, I know that I need to do everything I can do with the gifts with which I have been blessed. Why have them if they are not used to their potential? If I am mentally capable to excel in a certain area, I would regret not using my abilities and pursuing it. If I am physically capable to do things, I should not take them for granted until they are taken away. Are we all living up to our potential, or could we do better?
This has implications in other areas of thought and interaction as well. Would you treat people you know the same if you knew things were going to end? What really matters in regards to things like friendships and relationships? If something is a burden, why would one waste time on it?
As I said in an earlier post, people come and go. Do you really see yourself speaking to the same friends? Will you still be close to your siblings? Habits may need to be changed to prevent future remorse.
We need to all take time to re-examine what is truly important. Our petty arguments are insignificant. Each moment needs to be cherished. If the young age of 50 was given as a deadline, by that time, we should be in a place (education or career) that we are content with and have relationships (friendships or a spousal relationship) and perhaps spirituality that give us peace. If your education/career/relationship is a stressor now, how would it be any better if we were told we were going to pass soon? What can we change now?
Very interesting questions you ask. As you said, we should all try to live to the best of our abilities and virtues. However, I think it is important to do good things for the sake of those good things, instead of measuring the value of actions by its effects. As human beings, we often look for benefits, when we don’t get those benefits we feel as if we’ve wasted our time. But every experience/person, whether they/it be good, bad, useful, or not useful shape the people we are today. Our mistakes in the past shouldn’t define who we are as people, but be a guide for us so we can be better prepared to take the right turns in the future. We were all given life, not to limit it, but to give rise to more life...by simply sitting around by thinking about things we could have done better or things we weren’t able to do… in a way oppresses our lives. We need to awaken our thoughts and live them through actions. Death is inevitable, and that’s why we should try to be our best today, because tomorrow may never come. Thanks for such a thought provoking post. I’m definitely going to keep up with your posts inshAllah!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree! I was going to add another paragraph about how I don't regret anything in my past because I feel like all my past experiences have molded me into who I am at the present moment. When I wrote this, I was actually just thinking more about my present choices/actions and what possible effects they may have in the future. Thanks for the great comment and opinions!
ReplyDeleteOh and the lighter side of this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r11YaT3NjYs
Too many of us strive to be spontaneous and put off the really important things for later, when we're old and "have nothing better to do." In reality, we'll always find excuses, and time will run out before our excuses do. I'm at a point where I keep telling myself, "Enough is enough." But it never seems to be enough. Thanks for raising these questions... it definitely gives me a lot to think about.
ReplyDelete