There is No Warranty
You may get a warranty for your car,
And with insurance, be reckless and drive far…
But there is no warranty for life,
Anybody can go first, husband or wife!
One may take insurance for their life, but the fact is that life has no warranty. Nobody can guarantee life. You may get a one-year warranty for your washing machine or a three- year warranty for your car, but life has no warranty. It can't be replaced by anybody on earth. Birth and death are not in our hands. When, how, and to whom we are born is not in our control, just as death is in the hands of the Divine. There is no guarantee that I will finish writing this book. The warranty for life is only for the present moment. Therefore, we must learn to live life in the 'now', moment by moment.
Most of us live taking life for granted, believing that we too will live at least for 70 years which is the average life expectancy. But is there any guarantee? Some people die even before they can walk. Some meet with fatal accidents in their teens. Then there are others who are afflicted by some terminal disease and they die even before they are 25. While most people go on to live, some have an extended life span. They even live till they are 100. Of course, there is no assurance that our life will be healthy and happy but human life has been so designed that we can live for about 70-80 years on an average. Turtles live for over 120 years, whereas dogs don't even live till they are 13. Golden eagles live for 30 years and elephants may live up to 70 years. It is said that some trees live for 5,000 years. Only the Creator knows why our life span is what it is.
Who decides all this? Who is the Creator of life on earth who decided how long human beings must live? Who has designed all the beautiful butterflies, the gorgeous flamingos and playful dolphins and penguins that exist in different parts of the world? The Creator is most powerful, and the power exists all around us. Unfortunately, we are blind. We don't see the power of the Creator in all His creations, His manifestations.
Creation is unique and therefore, if we really want to live our life with peace, joy and bliss, we must learn to live our life moment by moment. Our mind makes us swing to the past which is gone and then makes us jump into a future not yet born. Alas, we lose the present moment called 'Life'! The 'now' is so precious that people call it 'the present'. Instead of making the best of our life moment by moment, we lose it to our regrets and our fears and before we realize it, it is over.
While there is no warranty for life, life also has no rewind button. Unlike an exciting moment in sports on television or a beautiful song on YouTube, that can be replayed, life cannot be revisited. Therefore, many people in this world do not live life the way they should, and thus they end up regretting their past, 'If only I had my life to live all over again, I would learn to play the guitar, I would play more sports, climb more mountains, watch more sunsets.' Unfortunately, nobody can go back and relive their life. A life that has passed is like a river that can't go back on its path.
Therefore, it becomes so important to read the Manual of Life, to understand what life is all about, and to live it. Some people see life escaping them and they regret but then it is too late! Nobody in this world, neither the richest man on earth nor the most powerful man in the world can rewind even one moment of life. Still, although we know that life has no warranty, nor can it be replayed, we waste this beautiful gift called 'Life'.
We don't prepare for the end, which may come anytime. We live with ignorance, without even realizing what life is all about. We don't know who we are and why we are here. We just live, we exist, and we die. Very few people even bother to open the Life Manual. But those who do, discover how life must be lived and live it. They are the ones who are truly happy.
It's strange that people are very busy insuring their life. They are preparing to give away what belongs to them to their near and dear ones. It is funny that they don't spend as much time preparing to live as they do planning their legacy. What we don't realize is that we cannot control what will happen after we die. Once we are dead, we will not carry a remote-control button to manage what happens on earth. All we can do is to live well before we die. We should have no expectations of what will happen once we are gone. There is no guarantee that people will respect our wishes, our preferences and our directions after our death. If they do, we will be lucky. If you look around, you will find, as is popularly said, 'People are dead and gone!' Therefore, it is time to stop and realize that we must learn to live before it's too late. Let us learn to do what we want to do before this journey of life comes to an end, which it will—sooner or later.
Death is certain. The one thing that has a guarantee, is death. Nobody can escape it. And while there is no warranty for life, we should always be prepared for death, which is a certainty and which could be just around the corner. This does not mean we have to constantly worry about death, but we must be prepared for it even if it comes today, for there is no assurance when it will come.
IN A NUTSHELL