All around me I see people taking themselves too seriously: in relationships, at work, personal image, peer comparison, achievements and the list can continue. But, by doing this, people actually don’t take LIFE seriously. We lead our lives according to a pre-established agenda of what our own existence should be. And this leaves little to no room for experiencing the miracle of being alive.
We are so busy making a good living (according to whose standards?!) to actually live.
Viktor Frankl in “Man’s search for meaning” has a paragraph that I love: “The transitoriness of our existence in no way makes it meaningless. But it does constitute our responsibleness; for everything hinges upon our realizing the essentially transitory possibilities.”
Probably you will have to read it twice to understand the meaning of it.
The thing is, nothing is forever. Not even us. But this doesn’t mean life is meaningless. On the contrary, having a limited existence in this shape and in this place means it’s our responsibility to decide what our existence should be about, our priorities.
We are in a position to make our choices every single second. No one can force us to do something we don’t agree to.
So, do you really need to work the long hours? Do you really need to put up with the bad relationship you’re in? Do you need to get frustrated with your ungrateful boss? Will all this matter to you in the long run? Are they meaningful to your existence? For me, taking life seriously means not taking everything too seriously.
You may consider this being superficial thinking and not giving too much attention to the complexity of day-to-day realities. I think it’s exactly the opposite. The day-to-day realities fade when something life changing happens to you and you start to see everything in a different perspective.
Life can carry on with or without us. What you put your energy to work for is defining your limited existence on this earth. So, what do you choose that to be?
Do you take everything seriously and do you let it influence your life? Where do you set the boundaries? What are your immutable priorities?
Someone said in a very big Book that “all is vanity and a chasing after wind.” In the end, what do you want your life to be about?
Take care of yourself,
Xtina
