In our lives sometimes, there are phases where we start looking for the reasons to exist, reasons to live or perhaps reasons to survive. This is an open letter to those who are currently going through those phases. It’s a letter to remind you about the tiny details of life that you might have taken for granted.
Life brings us different chapters every now and then. Sometimes you want to read the chapters thoroughly, hold them close to your heart. You might also want to bookmark a few pages of a few chapters so that you can go back to them whenever you want to. And sometimes there are chapters, you wish that you never had to read them but you can’t really get away without them either chapters. You have to go through those chapters as well because there’s no escape from them. If you are a careful reader you already have figured that I am talking about life, about my life, your life and our life.
Life is weird on many different levels. There’s no fixed mantra to lead a it because each life is unique, unique with songs, smiles, laughter, tears, sobs, anger, love, despair, hope and dreams. We usually have not much to say anything about them but we feel them in our brain or according to the popular discourse we feel them in our “heart”. But have you ever imagined what it might feel like if you were deprived of one of your senses or your human rights? Let’s take you to a few of those worlds that are deprived of something we all have taken them for granted.
If you are reading this on a screen then it’s evident that you can see with your eyes. Well, according to World Health Org., around 36 million people (2018) of this world are blind. This deficit is not of their faults, they never chose that for their lives. You are fortunate, right? Because you can see. You can see when it rains, when the sun sets, when the sun rises or when your crush uploads a new profile photo on Facebook. You can see that food on your plate, few spoons of that bland dry khichuri from the campus café or that plate full of fuchkas oozing with tetul pani with chili flakes and shredded eggs sprinkled on top. According to Food Aid Foundation’s statistic, some 815 million people (2016) are hungry around the world, which means one in nine people doesn’t have access to food not even that awful looking bland khichuri! Therefore, even though we don’t usually think about those starving people, having food on plate can be a wonderful incident in someone’s lives.
Now think about your favorite song or favorite band. You having one means you are not among the 466 million people (2018) who are deaf, which is 5% of the entire world population. Think about those moments when someone calls your name and you respond. Those 5% people do not even know how does their name sound. Shocking, right? But it’s the reality of their lives. Not having food on plate, not having eye sight, or not having the ability to hear, is not their choice, living with such difficulties is their choice though.
When was the last time you were thankful for these three things? Today? Yesterday? Last week? Last month? Last year? These are only three examples, there are hundreds of things in our everyday life that we have already taken for granted. This means they become so natural to our existence, we tend to forget what it might feel like to live without them. What it might feel like not being able to see your face in the mirror every morning, not being able to see that crimson red flowers on Shahbagh crossing, not being able to hear your own voice, not being able to listen to your favorite music, not being able to get some food day after day.
Sometimes you will feel a void in your mind, that’s okay! Take a deep breath and think about what things you have already taken for are granted. You will be surprised to know how much life already has offered, and also remember that such offers do not end with time. They are endless because they come with bundle of trouble and joy. Cherish the joy and remember the trouble because whenever you are out of your comfort zone, you are growing up, learning and becoming strong. It’s okay to crumble down, and bawl your eyes out, or yell. But no matter what happens it’s never okay to hate yourself. You will fall in love with wrong people, trust the most unworthy and fail in every possible ways, but that will be your experience and your treasure map to find your true self, so find a way to forgive yourself.
Life is too short to have a grudge against yourself. Try to explore what your passion is and be shamelessly persistent with it because time is running out. You can make the best out of life if you want, but there lies the trick! You have to be defiant to the naysayers and bold enough to take on any challenge to follow your passion. Life brings in wonder, learn to soak in them. Even when you think it’s over, it not really is because you might have the option to give up on life, but life doesn’t. Life patiently waits for you to grow, to suffer, to celebrate, to love, to fight and most importantly it gives you the chances to discover yourself. While you have the time, take all your moments to travel through the roads life has to offer and leave your fingerprints on each of them!