Live! Don’t just Exist
Life is a precious gift,
Given to us to live.
Alas, many of us just exist!
Neither do we give, nor forgive.
What is life all about? All of us live, but many of us in reality, just exist. We go through the motion called 'Life'. We breathe, we wake up in the morning, we eat, we make merry and we sleep. Eventually, we die. We forget to live life. We human beings have been given the most precious gift of a human life. Can a tree choose what it can do? It is bound to the ground. It is meant to exist, not live. Animals are luckier. They can move and explore the world. Some of them can love and be loved. They become our darling pets and wag their tails or use the gift of their voice to communicate through their sounds. They seem to have some kind of an instinct, but they too can't choose how to live. They survive, till one day they die.
But human beings are unique. We are gifted with an intellect. The intellect discriminates as it helps us choose. Then, we use our willpower to decide. Some of us truly live, while others, we just exist! What is it to live and not to exist?
Life has a purpose. We did not come to planet earth for nothing. Unfortunately, we have not realized the purpose of life. In fact, all living creatures and organisms have a purpose. Plants were created to provide oxygen for human beings. If there were no plants, how would the carbon dioxide that 8 billion people breathe out, get converted back into oxygen. Plants also provide food, building materials, medicines. But we human beings haven't stopped to realize what our purpose is.
The Creator has made a unique world and if we stop to introspect, we will be amazed at creation. The fascinating world of the birds, the amazing animals in the jungle and the glorious underwater world must inspire us to realize there is a purpose for us human beings. Unfortunately, these creations of the Divine have a purpose, but they don't need to find their purpose. Through certain laws of nature, the Divine has organized the world in such a way that things happen automatically.
However, there is one thing that other living organisms don't have and that is the gift of the intellect. It is this gift that lets us discriminate and choose what we must do. We are the only living beings who can decide what we want. This is because it was meant for us to discover our purpose and not just exist or survive like the rest of creation.
Many people just exist. Of course, they choose what they eat, what they wear and where they go. But they don't contemplate life's purpose. While it seems that they live, they exist till they die. A very few people actually stop to live. They stop to wonder what life is all about. Not only do they appreciate the beauty of nature and creation, but they also fold their hands and bow down in prayer, expressing their gratitude to the Creator. This too is a choice and we are blessed to pray, although not everybody does. Have you ever seen a dog, a cat or an elephant, fold its hand in prayer? That is probably why they were designed with 4 legs. Do we even realize that we have 2 hands that are precious and meant to do things? This is a unique gift to us humans!
A human being is very unique. Unfortunately, we take things for granted. We, sometimes, simply sway like the trees without realizing that they don't have a choice, but we do. The trees go by the breeze, but we can choose to conquer the seas. We can do what we want, go where we like and even discover our purpose on earth.
Look around and observe how many people are truly living. Most of them are having a blast with life till it lasts. They think life is all about being merry, eating, drinking, enjoying and above all, being happy. But humanity is not happy. We experience pain and suffering, only because we forget to live, we forget to discover the purpose of life. The few people who decide not just to exist, but to truly live, they live life moment by moment as it should be lived. They are conscious of every moment, as they experience a state of blissful consciousness. They discover the purpose of life.
Do those who exist even realize that they are just existing? Are those people who are not truly living life even aware that they have not made the best of their treasure called ‘Life’?
James had moved to a town from a small village. He was given a smartphone and he was amazed. Smartphones were unheard of in his village. Even cell phones were rare. James loved the idea of calling folks back home and thought it was a great device. But he had not discovered all the features of his handset. When Robert started explaining that he could also make video calls, he could browse the internet, he could use so many apps, he could stream live videos on social media and do so much more, he was flabbergasted. He had not discovered the true potential of his gift.
We human beings may laugh at James but aren't we too like him? We have been given this beautiful gift called 'Life'. We have not explored the possibilities as we have not discovered our purpose. We think life is great when in reality, we haven't used any of life's possibilities!
IN A NUTSHELL