Enjoying a great book is highly pleasurable when there is enough substance and intrigue, coupled with complexity and the afterthought that is impregnates the reader’s mind with. Every writer, artist, performer etc. creates his/her best works when he/she is aware of the subject matter of his/her creation. To achieve this feat, the person in question has to go through an intricate process of reflection, analysis, data collection, experimentation (not necessarily scientific) and eventually is able to produce the best piece of work.
Without the tireless work and systematic trial and error, the end product wouldn’t be all it is meant to be. Life can be made worthwhile if we give it the importance and attention that we would put in had we been entrusted with the responsibility of entertaining the world with our talents. Why do we need to put in all that effort? Because the most important individual in all our lives, the one person we can actually make the world of difference to and the only person we can change or have any semblance of control over is….the person who stares back at us when we look in the mirror.
Our life is an intricate marriage of experiences and situations that paints an altogether complex scenario. We are affected by situations and decisions we make, we make decisions and are part of situations that might affect the lives of others as well. Because of the extensive reciprocity involved in the human life, and because of the extent to which our influence flows, it is very necessary to put careful thought into every decision we make. It is our duty thus to live completely by allowing ourselves the opportunity to prepare, revise and practice our basic etiquette often. Basically, we need to be as aware as possible of all the things we are doing and thinking and of all the lives our thoughts and thus, our behaviours, will effect.
‘Life is short’ or so we are constantly reminded. Every day we are faced with this truth. Very often we hear of people passing away in the prime of their lives. Accidents, lifestyles and any number of things have snatched away lives, sometimes even before they have kick started their journey in its totality. With life being so fickle, why then do we allow ourselves to waste away these precious years we have been given on energy drainers like hate and regret? Why do we afford ourselves the luxury of having to look back morosely and regret a time, moment or reaction? One of the biggest mistakes we make is allowing regret to take over and suck the fun out of our lives. We as humans, allow our egos to take control over better judgement and do and say things that could one day be the bone of contention in an otherwise perfect relationship. When we make decisions therefore, we need to ensure that our decisions are not being emotionally driven. As individuals we tend to allow hurt to become us and we embrace it to such an extent that slowly the hurt metamorphoses into something more complex. We allow it to slowly turn to anger, rage, guilt, hate and finally, in my opinion the worst of the lot… indifference. When we reach the stage of indifference that’s when we lose the battle to our egos. Relationships have disintegrated and split from the seams because of our inability to separate our emotions from our decisions. Years down the line, no matter how much we would like to deny it, regret takes over and rears its ugly head. When we fail to be objective in situations, we tend to set ourselves up for pain. Thinking things through has always proved to be the most effective way of getting by.
Another side of this concept is experience. As we grow up we tend to have various experiences. Not all of us get on in life without making a few if not many mistakes. The beauty of life is that we are most often given a second chance. When I say avoid regret, in no way do I mean stop yourself from having fun and living life to the fullest. What I do mean is, even the mistakes we made need to be embraced. It is the mistakes we make that teach us the best lessons. Letting our choices teach us rather than letting them become us is the key to a happy tomorrow. We tend to do things and then sit there and regret them. So what if we had a few drinks and danced on the table? So what if we didn’t study well enough for a test? We always have another chance at redemption. So again I say… why give yourself the opportunity to regret? We only live once… let’s live it right…
