Life and Death

Picture: http://redjuice.deviantart.com/art/Life-and-death-49885704

Just this morning, I heard two pieces of news that gave me shivers for totally different reasons. Two pieces of news one of birth and the other of death…. They made me marvel the wonders of life. How one begins and one ends.

My friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and my student’s mother passed away. I am extremely thrilled for my friend and so sad for my student who has to go through the best years of her life without a mother. Life works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?

I do not think this ever happened to me before… sure I have heard of joyous births and distressing deaths… but never on the same day… I do not want to be thinking about the meaning of life and whether or not it is pointless… that is so depressing.

But I cannot help it... Many people think that they are born, they live and then they die and are forgotten forever. I do not want to think that our lives mean nothing even if we made a difference in someone’s life because that someone will surely die as well. I do not want to believe that there is no point in pursuing knowledge or try to improve myself and my character because the end result is my death. That is just plain silly… if this kind of development did not matter then our lives would not matter since they are pointless....  then why on earth are we so distressed about death itself? It should not matter either, am I right?

To me… the purpose of life is whatever you make it and whatever it means to you. It really does not matter whether or not there is a higher purpose for all of us and whether or not we will have eternal life in heaven… to me that should not be the sole reason why we do good deeds, help people, or develop ourselves. Each of us develops a set of values that they think would help them improve their lives and the lives of the people or life (plants or animals) around them. It is those values that create meaning to life…

It is also the activities that we engage in that create meaning to our lives. Choosing the ‘right’ activity that suits our purpose in life gives meaning to it. We are the ones who select that purpose. If we choose to build awareness of Learning Disabilities, cancer or women and children’s rights, then those are the kinds of activities we choose to engage in and which in turn will give our lives a purpose… but if we choose to sit there in front of the TV and do nothing to improve our lives or the lives of others, then we will definitely not find a purpose in life and we would slowly wither and die away.

We create a purpose for our lives on this Earth!

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

Mother Teresa