Mir Rahi

“It is not that we have a short time to live, but we waste a lot of it. Life is long if you know how to use it.” (Seneca)

Bright sunshine has bathed our land after a harsh and bleak winter. The almond flowers herald the season of renewal. Vigour and life is returning to earth. Flowers are refreshing the air and the cuckoo has returned to reinvigorate the farmer with its songs. Nature is in its finest mood in the season of spring.
In this season of renewal and rebirth, a virus has pushed us to isolation and confined us in our homes. Perhaps nature has given us a break, some time to cool our overheated human machinery. Endless demands, constant pressure and exhausting schedules have torn us apart and broken our most important human endowment: spirit. Physically we are fatigued, emotionally we are fragile, and spiritually we are dead. Perhaps we may be well-off but we lack well-being. We suffer from diseases deeper and more severe than we know.
Now, though, all the human machinery and its parts have come to a standstill. This machinery is in dire need of an overhaul. It is a golden opportunity for us to rekindle the fire that has been extinguished by the sterile world that we have grown accustomed to. This is the best time to ease the burden on our minds so that we may feel light and alive again. Nature has locked us down to send us on a spiritual voyage to rediscover what we have lost.
Let’s leave the “outside” and turn “within” to know ourselves again. Silence and solitude reign everywhere. It is a time to realise the healing power of silence. We have been running a race and it is time to take a pit-stop. Till now we have been busy with increasing our bank balance, in building houses and careers, in investments big and small. But have we made the biggest and the best investment – in ourselves? We are fascinated by the charms and beauty of things outside us. But what about the beauty and charm within us? Carl Jung said, “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.” All things originate inside us and then take shape outside. We are not so much in the world as the world is within us.
Let’s take a break from our hectic schedules and slow down the pace to enjoy the beauty and sacredness of all that is around us, because that is the least we owe ourselves. Let’s stop spending so much time chasing big pleasures while neglecting the little ones. The size of our bank balance and the size of our house has nothing to do with happiness. The world is full of unhappy millionaires. On a final note, let’s ask ourselves: How many on their deathbeds wish that they had spent more time watching TV (or smartphones) and making better financial investments? No one, I guess. All they think is about their loved ones, their family, and most importantly, about themselves. What if we were to die tomorrow? How would we want to be remembered? What legacy we want to leave behind? When we are born, we cry while the world rejoices. Let’s endeavour to live in such a way that when we die, the world cries while we rejoice.

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