If you really think about it, you realise that, in the greatest of all things, even a hundred years is not a long time. On top of that, from the time we enter this world up to the time we depart, every experience we have is only real in the present moment. In other words, we live in a perpetual present moment.
The past is only a memory that we relive in our minds, and the future is just an imagination. Hence, depression is mostly due to regrets from the past and anxiety from worries about the future. However, we find that if we do our best to live in the present moment, most of what keeps us up at night will be non-existent and irrelevant. Of course, we cannot entirely live in the present moment. We must strategise and plan. However, we must do so briefly and then continue with the next actions to gradually achieve the expected outcome. So eventually, our fulfilment comes from the process, not the outcome.
It is therefore very sad to see constant competition everywhere and less collaboration.
It is sad to see humans forever acting from the place of scarcity instead of sharing.
“Every man for himself” seems to be today’s society’s unwritten but commonly shared ethos. It has become the common man’s modus operandi regardless of the circumstances or sphere. From the outside looking in, it looks chaotic for a species that claims to have achieved monumental economic and technological development, yet it can never overcome its greed and gluttony or its immortal attitude in its every approach.
For if it truly was aware, then why would it be the only species that celebrates getting closer to its grave? – birthdays. From the outside looking in, the whole scene would look different if we all, as a species, became more aware of our impermanence. This should be one aspect that keeps us all grounded and humble. It will also easily tame our ego and put it in its place once and for all. For we will, for once, realise that a hundred years from now, none of the people we hate, hold grudges against, or things we spend our time and energy on are truly worth it.
We, and the invisible people whose opinions we ever worried about, will not be here either. However, we can live a more fulfilling life we love more, kinder, supportive and compassionate. For it is in these things that we mirror ourselves through others. It is this kind of selfishness of giving more than we take that we may finally start to understand what it feels like to experience heaven on earth.
*Uncommon Sense is published in the New Era with contributions from Karlos Naimwhaka. YouTube channel: Karlos Lokos.
– karlsimbumusic@gmail.com
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