Have we lost our ability to live life the way it should be lived? With technology quite literally taking over our lives, we have become slaves to things around us and often feel out of control. Each year millions of people make new year resolutions only to be broken within 30 days, sometimes even earlier. Everyone seems to be running, but no one seems to know where they are running to. Most people including myself believe that we have goals in our life. A bigger house, a fancy car (or maybe 2), security for our families, wealth… and the list goes on. Almost everyone seems to be writing down goals they wish to achieve only to realise that it was only wishful thinking. In the midst of all this, people seem to have forgotten the most important goal in our lives. A goal which each one of us was given by the supreme when we came to this world. The goal to life a life and not merely exist!.
Most people in life are sleep walking through their lives. Life is nothing but a routine. Get up in the morning often still feeling sleepy, get ready, go to a job which they probably hate, wait for the watch to hit 6 so that they can come back home, stretch their legs, watch some TV, meet friends for some drinks, have dinner and go to bed. During my recent trip to India, I was shocked at how oblivious people were on how miserable their lives had become. Life seems to have become like a game where all that matters is to earn lots of money, buy or rent a apartment in a posh locality, send children to international schools and enjoy evenings with friends over drinks, movies or clubs. This is what everyone called living. What’s strange is that most people I spoke to had some kind of health related issues but it didn’t seem to bother them.
What surprised me is that no one felt they needed to change. Everyone pretended that they were happy with their lives, even though no one would admit that there was something wrong. Now I don’t mean to say that everyone of them was unhappy and were pretending to be unhappy. Rather people seemed to have changed the concept of happiness and have forced them into believing that happiness lies in the materialistic pursuits of life. Again don’t get me wrong. Money is important. Infact its vital. As the late Zig Ziglar used to say, money is not important but its right up there next to oxygen. I love all the things money can buy for me, but for me true happiness is the have all the things that money can’t buy. Money can buy you a house, not a home, Money can buy you a bed, not a good night sleep, money can buy you a partner, not a companion, money can buy pleasure, but not happiness.
In our mad pursuit for success and riches, we are often neglecting the true pleasures of life which give us happiness. Think about it and reflect on the amount of time you spend on things you really want to do deep within but keep yourself holding back. I love what someone once said and have adopted it as the philosophy of my life. “When I am on my death bed I would never wish I spent more time at work. I will always wish I spent more time with my family”
Cheers to Life!