Slowing down to see what really matters

 The news of people losing their lives to natural calamities, accidents, dreaded diseases, murder, and mental health issues is frequent. With just your phone, you can see so many things happening around the globe — people losing their loved ones, their homes, their lives — and here we are, feeling helpless and saddened by such news.

However, despite this real-life evidence, we go to bed without even thinking that this could be our last day. We argue with others as if we have forever to live. We hate others as if only our life matters. We live as though death isn’t coming for us anytime soon.

I worry that something might happen to me, my family, or the people I love. I worry that I might pass away at any moment. I worry a lot about my son too. But most of the time, I rarely reflect on the impermanence — the inevitable impermanence.

I want so many things. I want comfort in my life. I want to bring wealth and peace to my family. I want to do well in whatever I pursue. And yet, the thought that life is not guaranteed is rarely felt. Even though we know how uncertain life is, we often ignore or neglect it — because unless it happens to us directly, it’s hard to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

We all want to live a whimsical life. We want to live long. And often, we don’t care if our words hurt others — because it’s all about ourselves. Not about she, he, or they — it’s always I, me, and mine. I admit I’m also often focused on myself and my own. But I believe it’s important to start living a more meaningful life — a life I won’t regret, a life where no one is hurt or offended, a life slightly less about myself.

Because today it was them — and tomorrow, it could be me.

After all, life is uncertain, and impermanence is inevitable.