Whose lives we live?
Syed Mustafa Ahmad
Life is the most beautiful gift from God. It has to be enjoyed as well as introspected. Learning from others is as necessary as learning from our own conduct. Rectifying one’s mistakes is a pious job that has its own value. However, all goes awry when we live for others.
To put it in other way, when we eat, sleep, run, walk, earn, study, pray, etc. by looking at others. Looking in the sense that we feel that what others are doing is more important for me than what I myself do. Moreover, when others’ happiness and sorrows occupy our mind set, also reflects that we are not living our lives.
Man is the crown of creations. He can’t stoop so low and become a puppet in other’s hands. The marvelous brain does miracles. Cells are unique things that cannot be made in any laboratory of the world. When this is the case, then which cause or causes force a man not to live his life and keep staring at things that have little value for him? In the following lines, I will discuss some causes of this situation.
The first is lack of introspection. If a man introspects, he will definitely come across himself. Reaching that stage will enable him to forget everything, though he remembers everything. To make yourself nothing, even though you are everything.
Pablo Neruda in his poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ says that due to greed for more and more material, there is chaos and confusion in our lives. Peace will come when we stop and introspect. When many identities are lost and one identity is accepted, it means you live your life. If not, then even a body builder is a mere dust and which we are.
The second is working against God’s plan. He wants from us to be yourself first and then your family. After that, you must care for others. However, caring for others without caring for yourself, is madness. You will never live your life in this way. Giving proper attention to yourself as commanded by God, means that you are following the God’s chosen path and there will surely be victory. And this is the best way of living.
The third is ungrateful society. Barring some people, a majority of people are selfish. Feeding snakes in the hope that they will not bite me is the maddest thing in the world. In this example, there is a lesson for us that never try to appease people, who are hell-bent upon to criticize us, after giving them honour as well as support. Going against this, is the way of living your life.
The fourth and last is our fault. We do keep expecting from people. Knowing that they won’t do anything good for us, without having selfish motive behind it, we ruin ourselves. Who will come and teach these people that why are expecting from unexpected people? In this way, we never live our lives.
So, the need of the hour is to begin to live our lives. Everybody is busy here. Why should a person wait for other person to come and then he or she will start living? It is better to come out of this illusion as soon as possible.
(The author is a teacher and hails from Hajibagh, Zainakote)
KV Network
