All Life forms, including humans, have one Life, in this lifetime.
There are 2 choices for any of us in this Life.
We can either Exist or Live.
Existence or going-with-the-flow is the easy way, chosen by many.
Living or treading-a-different-path is the hard way, chosen by few.
The few who choose to Live Life, become the chosen few.
Lord Krishna, Pathanjali, Samrat Ashoka, Gautama the Buddha, Jesus Christ, Raja Raja Chozhan, Leonardo DaVinci, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Ramana Maharishi, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Henry Ford, Mahatma Gandhi, Tenzing & Hillary, Albert Einstein, Swamy Vivekananda, Subrahmanya Bharathi, Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Rukmini Devi, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, MS Subbulakshmi, Oscar Pistorius, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev… It is a long list of legends spanning centuries.
They will tread new paths and show the path for others. And they don’t mind scores following them.
They will break existing rules and make new ones. But they don’t know fear while doing so.
They will think and act differently. And they don’t think twice about being perceived as nonconforming.
They will be questioned and stonewalled at every turn. But they don’t worry about perceptions and focus on reality instead.
Mere existence is following a routine. Routine will rust the spirit, numb the enthusiasm and kill the desire to excel. And No We Can’t Live Life without breaking the routine!
Existence may be good. Anything Good will make you smile in acknowledgement of its goodness. That’s why most humans are happy to just exist. And go with the flow. Accept BAU. They look at life as clockwork.
Humans with their overrated 6th sense think Flora and Fauna just exist. And they’re wrong, like in many other cases, due to their limited, constrained thinking.
All non-human life forms know and play the Game of Life well. They Live Life the way it is. They don’t mess with nature’s way of Life. And their existence is useful for others – including humans who consume and destroy them. They know fully well the Absurdity of Existence!
But true living is Great. Anything Great should bring Joy Drops, whenever one experiences it.
Those who chose to Live, know when Life recycles Time, the Present becomes the Past in the Future!
So they bookmark the past, focus on the future and make things happen in the present.
They don’t bother about what others would think of them, as they know this Life is worth Living.
Life is a marvelous, vibrant, adventurous, memorable, enchanting and joyful journey. Life’s journey is the destination.
We can learn how to Live Life from other life forms in perfect harmony with Life and humans who chose to Live Life.
Life is an Endless Beginning, which is indeed beautiful, if we let it to be!
Life spans 3 stages. We can live Life one moment at a time; one hour at a time; one day at a time or one Life at a time.
One Life. It is far more worth than mere existence. Rev it. Live it.
Ekanth – Thanks. The idea of bookmarking the past occurred to me when I realized we hardly ever go back to really check all the bookmarks we’ve made in a browser. We probably use 1 or 2% of what we’ve bookmarked. Similarly, while we love harping about the past, there are very few instances or experiences that are really valuable or useful for present or future!
Nice one.. Many with our day to day lives just exist.. Living is more fun, but harder at first. 🙂 IMO, Living, is when you break free of routines.. You don’t have to be a thought provoking, paht breaking leader, just someone who lives in the present, without plannin for the future or thinking about the past.. Someone, who at your deathbed, feels “ah! there is nothing i regret doing/not doing. i feel at peace.”.. easy to say, difficult to do.. 🙂 your words pretty much sums it up “We can live Life one moment at a time; one hour at a time; one day at a time or one Life at a time.”
Deepthi – Thanks. Living to me is living Life in one’s own terms and the way it is meant to be. Though bound by many social boundaries, we can still choose to live ‘Life the way it is’, within these constraints!
too heavy duty for a monday morning but that’s just me buddy 🙂 …I am sure someday I will be able to understand these profound statements and live life but for now I am ok with existing 🙂
Saransh – Thanks. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with existence. In fact, one must Exist first to Live Life (hope that wasn’t even more confusing B<O). This is similar to our favorite & eternal discussion on transaction vs transformation 😉
//All non-human life forms know and play the Game of Life well. They Live Life the way it is. They don’t mess with nature’s way of Life. And their existence is useful for others – including humans who consume and destroy them
Beautifully said 🙂 A perfect post to start the week. Thanks Prakash!
Indumathi – Thanks. I owe this insight (still mostly conceptual understanding with very limited experiential) to my Master Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, who opened my eyes beyond Life the way we perceive it to Life the way it is!
Yet another refreshing crash course on life Vs. existence! Loved reading it and am fully charged! Thanks Prakash 🙂 Loved the below line in particular…
//bookmark the past, focus on the future and make things happen in the present//
Will try my best to adopt this way of life…