A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live. — Lao Tzu
Another day has passed. And just like that I have lived more than a quarter of century in a blink of eye.
It's not my birthday today. I haven't turned another year old. It's just a realization I had today, about how fast time flies.
If things keep going normal, I have already lived almost half of my life. However, any day could be my last. You never know when destiny strikes you.
When I look at life in this way, life is indeed short. A beautiful experience but short.
Most people of my age don't think about the timeline of life with that much depth.
They are busy enjoying life as it is. They live like they are invincible, like everything will remain same forever.
But we are often wrong.
Majority of life goes on autopilot mode.
The most precious resource is TIME. To optimize our life, we use our subconscious mind to get more productive.
Consciously, we don't think about 70-80% of things we do daily. We don't think consciously while we drive, eat, sleep or even while doing our work. These activities are so ingrained in our mind that we don't have to put conscious effort to do them. We are on auto pilot mode.
The problem is that we are on autopilot for so long that we forget that it exists. We don't stop and think about it.
If you were to die tomorrow, what would you do differently today?
When people are old with less energy and time, they often wonder about things they should have done differently. They live life with many regrets.
Well, no one lives a perfect life. But you should do whatever you can to add more joy and meaningful experiences in your lives.
Maybe you should be more resilient and put up more fight to change your circumstances and to achieve your goals.
Ideas alone won't change anything. Ideas without action are just thoughts, often lost after a few days.
For sure, you won't be able to achieve everything you put your mind to. There will be lack of time, experience, and resources.
But if you don't try anything, you will get zero results.
Walk The Extra Mile.
I have tried a few things in my life. And I am convinced that what separates success from failure is perseverance.
Everyone believes that they go the extra mile. But very few actually do.
When you are working a little more than others, you start thinking why are you doing this extra work if no one else is? Why put more efforts into something?
And then you turn your back and lose interest.
As I said, very few people goes the extra mile.
But when you put a little more effort than others, you have more opportunities.
You have opportunity to grow in your career if you work more, if you act more responsibly about your actions.
You have opportunity to grow in a relationship if you put more effort to care and love other person.
You have opportunity to grow financially if you put more effort in research and experimentation. If you put more effort to find additional ways to earn.
A little bit extra effort goes a long way.
Sure, it's hard. It's not for everyone. But going a step further than everyone has it's joys.
And over time that's what will make you unique.
Think about your Mortality
As people mature, life slows up for them. They stop and relax and think about their mortality.
They start becoming more aware. They start observing their life, their thoughts, their feelings. They start questioning things. About how they were living till now.
This awareness sometimes scares people. About how much time they have wasted. Sometimes I feel that fear too. Maybe I haven't lived life up to my potential. Maybe I am more obsessed about the future plans and forget to live in the present.
Then I stop, and ask myself, is it the best way to live? To live under the fear of death and uncertainty of life?
To live well, you should accept that one day you will die and not let that fact take you away from the present.
Whether you are inspiring people or living in chaos, it will end one day.
The moments you have lived, whether they were sweet and caring or in suffering, they won't come back. And that's the beauty of life.
True. Life may be short. But it is long enough to realize your true potential. To try and live your dreams. To savor enough happy moments.
Life is long if you know how to use it. — Seneca
Instead of worrying about the shortness of life, why not get back to work and focus on things that matter to you in the long term?
When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love..." — Marcus Aurelius
