Thinking About Life

Ever since I was a little girl I have been amazed by how unpredictable and complicated life can be. I’ve always felt a lack of control when thinking about the many paths our journey through life can take. It’s unsettling that nature can appear so perfectly designed but at the same time be so randomly unpredictable.

I’ve finally given up trying to figure it all out. I don’t want to know where we come from or why things happen anymore because really, it is all too random. Last year was especially challenging for me and for my family. It was a year filled with unexpected illness, financial strain, and very unusual events. I learned something amidst that year though. When things get difficult you feel helpless and as if the world is unfair. At the same time, you start to really think about what’s most important in life.

It is so easy to be misguided and to fall into a trap of living only to acquire things. Since this is the way society measures success, it’s easy to get swept up in and to get overwhelmed by this pursuit. While yes, it is nice to have the ability to buy what we want, it is very difficult to balance life so that we can work and get the things we want but at the same time be able to spend time with our families, relax, appreciate nature, meditate, and become more connected as a person to the world around us.

We read so much about how important it is to take care of ourselves but we can’t seem to apply that goal consistently in our lives. As a society, we have lost so much in our quest to become “successful” people. We don’t have time for anything anymore. We don’t connect with people anymore. We don’t receive holiday cards anymore, we don’t bake, we don’t cook, we don’t sing.

In the midst of that I have made the choice to refuse to stop doing all of the fun things that make this life a special one.

I enjoy so much sitting down and writing a note to my family and friends wishing them a wonderful new year. I love taking pictures and sharing them with the people I care about. This is one of the things that bring me the most joy. One example of how society has strayed from a better path: it is interesting how taking a picture has become a sin these days. People are so afraid that a picture is going to end up on the internet that I wonder what is going to happen when our kids don’t have as many tangible memories of all the moments we shared together.

I refuse to become paranoid about this. Am I cautious? Yes, I am. However, I am also aware of all the joy that reminiscing about my childhood through looking at old photos and videos brings to my life. Every time we want to have a good laugh, we put on an old family movie and we re-live those moments when our daughter was little and spent time with my parents and all the happiness they experienced with her. This is something that I want to keep doing because I think it brings only joy, even though society suggests otherwise.

Life is time-bounded. We are born and there’s going to be an end. We shouldn’t look at life as it is going to be eternal because when we do that we always procrastinate having fun and enjoying the present.

We often think that “when we retire” we are going to enjoy life. What we don’t think about is that if we didn’t take care of ourselves because we were always working, when we retire we could face so much fatigue and illness that we will be prevented from enjoying ourselves

We should make our priority to live in the present. To do the things we most want to do. Life will take care of itself and when our time comes to leave this planet, our family will always treasure those moments and will remember us with joy and happiness. That is the true purpose of our journey through life. Have a wonderful year!

Aixa Lopez