Life, unfolded!

“ So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect, that the
path of each man’ s genius contracts itself to a very few hours.”

The practicality of these words by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th century poet, essayist and philosopher, is certainly quite evident in the contemporary world where we see people coming and departing never to be seen again, yet leaving no mark of their existence and the precious days they spend transform into a hollow episode that is retained in nobody’ s memory.

Life refers to mingling with people, yet exclusion from the world; it means you own something, yet nobody has any possession; it makes you feel a worthy being, yet without any control over it; it is dear and familiar at one time, yet in a second it is exceptionally strange; it thrills yet you say it mars. Certainly, this is life and the way it is spent is remarkably dependent on who owns it, and it’ s definitely us who have the charge.

Living life in the contemporary ‘ dynamic’ world truly demands certain conditions that need to be fulfilled by its consumers and it definitely holds with itself a big asterisk mark (* ) with a conditions apply tag for the wise ones to see. But, for sure, have we ever bothered to read the bottom line of a cigarette box with an asterisk mark that it is not usable by kids under 18? No we never did, and why would we, when we strive for the more apparent contentment than the obscure impregnable damage anything creates. When we seldom show wisdom in an evident and understandable fact, we have a long way to realize the different aspects of life and work on it accordingly.

Let’ s give those asterisks that life encompasses, a thorough look to have a better understanding of the most precious gift that we possess.

The essence of living life and justifying it commence with the understanding and discovery of the self. An individual who has never isolated himself from his surroundings tends to be least judgmental of his/her individuality. His example is like that vulnerable baby who has just come out of the mother’ s womb and who relies on others to reveal to him his own identity. To get through this first step, for a while, we need to aloof ourselves from the outside world in a way that we are least influenced by others. Independent of all, when one focuses on what one is, the many dimensions of his/her identity start to be revealing to the individual, s/he stars realizing the needs associated merely with him/her, s/he starts locating and identifying his/her interests. It is in this phase only that the potentials and the aptitudes of one’ s being get unveiled. Though, a meticulous but a subtle stage as it makes a person direction-oriented who is well aware of
his goals and destinations that can surely compliment his/her existence.

Abraham Maslow, a humanistic theorist and founder of the popular concept of “ human’ s hierarchy of needs” , has rightly stated, that: “ What a man can be, he must be” . The first half of his statement is achieved when an individual gets through the initial phase of self-discovery. Then comes the real application of the outcomes that one already got and here is the true evaluation of his/her determination.

Once you have explored yourself, you enter a phase where the kind of effort you make matters a lot. Here, one needs to be in-tune with the world around. Such a purpose is accomplished when you start building relationships with people and you thus associate yourself with others. Life is not merely about you and your well-being, it is about the community you live within and eventually the overall human community. Thus, the transition from the phase of individuality to socialization definitely requires a great deal of determination on part of individuals. This refers to the fact that the individual needs to evolve his/her personality in order to develop with the changing circumstances.

In the fast globalizing trend of the societies, the most relevant feature attributed to it is the feature of diversity; diversity among people on the basis of their backgrounds and culture. In such an environment the trait of acceptance among the individuals proves to be the elevating factor not only on the part of individuals but on the whole, for a growing healthy community. Diversity could and should not be avoided at any cost, and thus it demands the value of pluralism to be inculcated among individuals. Being pluralistic helps individuals to broaden their comprehension and see beyond everything, it unwraps opportunities that could have been curtained otherwise. One can not shut his/her mind to a confined approach of the world thinking of accommodating you and the similar kinds because in that way, one only makes his survival trivial and tough. It is my conviction that enhancing cultural pluralism is a way of explaining that communities have different histories but that they can respect their mutual histories.

Thirdly, one’ s faith and religion have a significant part to play in the overall span of life. It is essential to note that religion does not merely incorporate the physical practice that we all follow in certain times throughout the day, however, it is also the manifestation of the ethical values that it teaches, in one’ s daily routine. This way, one’ s world and faith move parallel to each other because a steady life entails equilibrium between the two and indeed, it is foolish to leave either for the other.

Lastly, the phase comes when the individual needs to work towards his/her goals and
destinations. Since, you have already realized and judged your outer world, especially
your immediate associations, you are better prepared to anticipate the extent of barriers
that you might encounter. Barriers, condemnation and criticism, then, come one’ s way equally as appreciations and encouragements. Nevertheless, it is in one’ s hand to take all such responses in a healthy and constructive way rather than responding with a surrendering attitude. A criticism could easily take one astray as could an admiration. Neither should create an extreme impact, but act as an aid to draw one nearer to his objective. Therefore, here it is the individual’ s will power and consistent efforts towards the outputs that s/he once drew, back in the first stage, which make him victorious. Victory is not just being the best in the view of the world, but it is also the accomplishment of the self-laid goals and certainly it also is the happiness that one attains after getting through life’ s simplest difficulties.

Thus, this is how a life is meant to be lived with all those possible 'asterisks'. And of course, one’ s individual values tend to be of great importance and should not be compromised at any point in time. One’ s priority might vary but it has to be remembered that the tendency of freedom to become a license is not acceptable. And, the abuse of freedom is the misuse of freedom. This is a mutual value of all humanity. Be happy and live life as nobody ever did!