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From the day we’re born, religion informs us that our lives are already planned out – what we will become, how we will become it, when we will become it and when what we become will all end. Even the smallest things like what we eat, say, and do, seem like a part of a big plan. Religion tells us that our successes and struggles aren’t just random; they’re all written in a special script. It’s like we’re characters in a story, playing out our parts from beginning to end. So, every little thing we do, every word we say, supposes that it’s all been decided long ago, whispered into the wind of forever. It’s like choreographed movements in the dance of fate. From the cradle to the grave, we live out our lives – each word, each action, and each heartbeat has been written and meant to happen.
This brings about the question of the worth of our existence. If everything has been written and destined, why should we struggle to gain importance or relevance in life? Some people say they do not desire to become popular or famous, but it is undeniable they also wish to make their mark in this life. Whether they want fame or popularity or not, they desire to live a life that is, at least, enjoyable. They want to be able to afford freedom from poverty, oppression, and be free from worry. Whether life is worth living or not, no one wants to pass through the earth like a snake strolling through the rock’s surface, impactless. No matter how little, they want to not only make life comfortable for themselves but also impact lives.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, honourable, compassionate, and have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Everyone seems to be fixated on living a purposeful life but as there are people who purposely live to become accomplished, there are also a lot of people who live for the sake of living. They do not live for their existence to inspire anyone else, because they want to make a difference in this world, or so the coming generation could get inspired. They simply want to live because existence is a practice on earth. They can attain success and luxury but they do not own them to inspire someone else to aim for success or luxury. They simply live. In so doing, their existence could inspire someone else.
NYAD, an Oscar-nominated documentary, explores the life of Diana Nyad, an American writer and long-distance swimmer. When she was young, Diana attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida but failed due to many sea hindrances like wind waves, dangerous sea habitats and many other things. So she stopped attempting. But when she was over 60 years of age, she told her friend, Bonnie, that she’d love to attempt what she failed to finish when she was young. Bonnie thought she was crazy but she was ready to challenge herself. The first, second, third and fourth attempts failed, but at her fifth attempt, she became the first person ever to swim from Cuba to Florida at 64 years old. When asked why she wanted to do it, she said she wanted to fulfil her desire. It wasn’t really to inspire anyone or to expect her name to be edged in history. She just wanted to live.
Arsène Lupin is a book by Maurice Leblanc that tells the story of a gentleman thief who uses many tricks to steal without getting caught by the police. This book inspired the creation of the 2021 series, Lupin, a series about a Black Italian man who tries to get justice for his father who is falsely accused of theft, jailed and later commits suicide. When Maurice Lablanc was writing the book, he never imagined that the book would become so grand it would inspire many films. Arsène Lupin was published in 1907, but here it is, inspiring a movie in the 21st century.
Yes, religion tells us that our successes and struggles aren’t just random, that they’re all written in a special script but I believe whether life is meant to be a purposeful quest or just a meandering journey, the truest wisdom lies in embracing the present moment. Like characters in a sprawling novel, we each play our part in the unfolding narrative of life. It’s important to live without the weight of legacy, without the burden of what is yet to come. Let us savour the dance, the laughter, the tears, and find solace in the simple act of being alive, here and now, under the vast expanse of the sky. Because in the end, it is not the grand finale that defines us, but the grace with which we move through each fleeting chapter of existence.
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