By Mennat Allah Abou- Shoer
Freelance Writer, Egypt
Life, people, the world; nobody knows what any of that's all about. Nobody knows the truth about life, people, the world… and many other "terms" we take for granted in our daily life.
We go through life "thinking" we know it all, we think we've gotten to the bottom of everything; we've decoded the ciphers of life. Unfortunately, we couldn't possibly be further away from the truth.
I'm only 26, I have no idea how things went in the older ages, but I've always believed that with the technology and advancement of time, life has become harder, more complicated and over all insane. That I see very ironical, because supposedly we, the genius race of human beings, have created this technology, have thrived for this advancement so life would grow smoother despite its complexity.
Anyways, back to our topic, for some mysterious reason, my mind is set that humans have chosen to make life harder upon themselves and others.
Why It is Hard…
There are several reasons behind that. One very important reason is that some of us are going by in life without a minute's thought, some have a determined goal that keeps them going. While very few, who maintain a personal goal, value their life in the way they influence people around them; i.e. make an impression. Either way, whatever our purpose, or lack of purpose for that matter, is, life couldn’t possibly get any more complicated. Pretty pessimistic?! I choose to disagree.
Life is full of humans; different races, cultures, backgrounds, traditions, but we "supposedly" all share the only concept, we're here for a reason. We're born into this world to fulfill a purpose; not only an individual one, mind you, but rather a global one.
I divided humans to 3 categories; one that goes through life like a rocking chair; they're there, moving back and forth, but hardly doing anybody any good. The second category would be that of the people who live with a driving force; like a shooting star, pushing through the open sky with no limits or barriers but again not caring to leave an impact.
Last but not least, the unaware "angels of this world"; I do believe it to be true, that those who impact you the most are hardly ever aware of it, which is part of their charm.
I've created this division to analyze the reasons why the world has come to the state that it has to today. Even those with purposes, they've managed to personalize that purpose and forget all about their bigger purpose in life.
The Teacher of Me!
I worked as a teacher for 5 years, teaching English to High school and college students. The revelations I've reached through those 5 years are ones that I consider astounding.
Teenagers have come to a level of superficiality that is utterly unbelievable and nobody sees it as remotely weird, let alone thinks about doing anything about it. Teenagers around the world (with the exception of a few) have chosen to live in this bubble, a social bubble, where only the most superficial of topics are tackled.
Some of these very "serious" topics would be who's wearing what to which party, who's dating the hottest girl around camp, and whose daddy got his kid the most expensive car to reward him for "passing" the year.
If only it was limited to the students; I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and call them teenagers who're still to learn a lot in this world. Imagine a conversation with a parent who asks you to tolerate her, to say the least, obnoxious kid, and have him pass because she doesn’t want his feelings to be hurt.
If this is a sample of how some parents deal in life, how they bring up their children, then what are we expecting from the kids? What are they going to grow up to be like? What kind of people will they be? What are they going to be remembered for? Do they even have that in mind, to affect someone's life to the extent that they're remembered after they're gone? I hope they start doing so soon…
There's no way I can summarize the whole world of teenagers to such an attitude, some of them are pretty responsible; but again, how responsible, or in what sense are they responsible? Are they liable when it comes to their future and goals? Or are they liable when it comes to thinking about what they can do to give back to society? I've had kids in my classes who saw charity as a duty, a shore through which they could possibly get extra marks. They're not in it to impact; they're in it for their own personal dream.
Human Categories…
If only the percentage of my last category was big enough to drown out the previous two categories, life would be so a nicer place to live. These are the kind souls God has gifted us with, they're the "humans" of this world, and they make life worth living at times.
They are the people you can look up to, they're your idol, they're how you want your kids to grow up to be like, they're the dream of a better tomorrow. These people still look out for themselves; they have a goal to accomplish, and more often than not, they do accomplish it.
The only difference to them is that, in the process of accomplishing their personal goals, they manage to lightly tap you with their magic wand.
They teach you never to give up on your goals, how to treat others, how to treat yourself, or how to live your life the right way… the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, it's not everyday that you meet one of these good people, it's not everyday that you're subjected to such a fresh breeze; some people may only meet one in their life time while others may not be so lucky.
Observe life.
It's too short for you to just have it pass you by. You have to take your place and prepare for your lines; your time will come when you need to take the stand. However, you need to be alert, because when it's your turn, nobody will call your name and the moment will just pass you by.
| Home | Daily News | We Are On... |
