Have you ever wondered—what does it mean to feel truly alive? I have.
Simply put “feeling alive” is going beyond simply existing. Going beyond being stuck in the ever turning cogs of life. Life is precious and literally one of a kind. To put it another geeky way, the odds of finding another human like civilization in another planet is one in 10 billion trillion i.e 10^21, which is more than estimated grains of sand on earth, which is 4 x 10^20.
You’re rarer than all the grains of sand on every beach, combined.
It is easy to while away our time on this literally one of a kind planet, ruin it while we are at it, reach the end of our time and wonder where and how all the years went by. How often do we let the days blur together?
Let’s be honest—we’ve all been there:
- Putting off dreams and plans for “someday.”
- Obsessing over the past and letting it rob us of today and tomorrow. This quote from the Hindi movie “Dear Zindagi” summarizes this – “Don’t let your past blackmail your present, to ruin your beautiful future”
- Reacting on impulse instead of choosing to respond with intention. The Buddha taught – respond to a situation do not react. You are in control when you respond, when you react the situation controls you. This is also one of the core tenet of Buddhism which can be achieved by practicing mindfulness.
- Scrolling endlessly, numbing our minds instead of feeding our souls.
But here’s the wake-up call, next time your pointlessly doom scroll or sigh its only Monday fire up this longevity calculator and find out how many potential days/years you have left. That is how many birthdays you’ve yet to celebrate, how many sunsets you can watch, christmases you have left.
I don’t know who needs to hear this reminder right now, but I definitely do: You get one shot at this life. So make it count.
Love fiercely.
Try boldly.
Forgive quickly.
And live, not just on the weekends or holidays but every single day.
This is your life. Make it beautiful. Make it yours. Love Zindagi.