Nothing is ever as we imagine it would be: Life has its own weird way of just happening.
When I was twenty, I thought my life would turn out differently. I used to think 26 was too old, and when I am 26, I would have figured life out. Maybe I would be somewhere stable, and reaping the fruits of a life well lived. I used to think, that if I did everything by the book, then a positive outcome would be guaranteed. So I followed all the rules and checked all the boxes. Ironically, I didn’t end up where I thought I should.
Now I know, only a few people are lucky enough to live the life they had planned for. I am yet to meet one. If I do, I would love to know whether they find any satisfaction in it? Is there beauty in knowing exactly what is coming next? We live in a time where dissatisfaction is an all-high. Everything seems out of place with people committing suicide every other day: Young people mostly. Do you know how brave someone has to be to commit suicide? We are all trying at living, it’s not easy, but you…you had the nerve to not want to try anymore.
Where did we go wrong? Maybe we can start from the expectations. If I could speak to my younger self, I’d probably ask her to lower her expectations. Lowering your expectations doesn’t mean settling for just anything, but rather being open to any possibilities. Young people have such high expectations in life. It’s their way or no way at all. I think because they have time, and with time there is more space for anything to be realized. The older you get you come to see that your life might just be ordinary. You have a 9-5 if you’re lucky, nothing exciting ever happens anymore, most things that used to matter have lost meaning, and eventually, all things come to pass. Most times you don’t know what to do, and It’s a humbling experience.
Maybe the problem lies in the fact that we take living too seriously.
Physicists say life is a musical frequency. That’s why In India the gods dance, and one of my favorites is Shiva the cosmic dancer. Shiva’s dance signifies the neverending cosmic cycle of destruction and creation. The symbolism behind the dance cannot be missed: Everything existing is a dance, and at the center of it is the same intelligence.
The Nataraja teaches we cannot only have the positives in life. Everybody wants to feel good all the time, have the best experiences, the best materials money can buy…you name it. However, life is a wave. Not just metaphorically, but literally. It’s all happening at once. Creation follows destruction, pain follows pleasure, joy follows sadness, order follows chaos, delayed gratification follows discipline, and vulnerability follows intimacy…
The key to survival lies in a willingness to stick it out and put in the work. Whatever the situation is, just stick it out for a little bit. It will come to pass eventually. It might feel like forever, but forever isn’t such a long time as we are often led to believe.
Things do pass. And that’s not just wishful talking.
