Living in the Moment

Doesn't life feel like an endless ride on a giant wheel of misfortune? You step off, only to step right back on. One tragic moment meets another in a drama of unending pathos... Moments seem like beads, strung together on a thread spun out of your own misery... And when they rub shoulders, out of that silly brotherhood that flows through their hearts, comes out misery compounded many times over.

"Don't have any expectations," my friend would say, "for that's what breaks your heart. Accept yourself as you are. Surrender, absolute surrender to God, is the key. That we are born into this world is itself an indication of our insignificance; we are but a speck in the vast ocean." However true that may seem, the questions do surface time and again. And the undying quest to find answers is the only thing that keeps me alive.

It is easy to give up. It's as easy as slipping into depression and wallowing in endless self-pity, hurling mud at the world for the misery it brings to your doorstep. But it is difficult to stand where you are, and stare straight into the eyes of a beast, and still hold your sanity. With frustration comes a host of other negatives--cynicism, boredom, despair, death--of the spirit, of the mind. Not many of us live a life full of life. Or go all out to grab life by the throat. It takes a lot of courage to do that, and to face adversity with a smile.

We cannot live without faith, without holding on to something. What we believe in is totally up to ourselves. Each of us has got to find a truth that is right for us. But belief has to be at the heart of anything that we do. And we have to accept that there are things beyond our comprehension. Oftentimes we ask, "Why is it I suffer, when I am good," or "Why should tragedies occur killing millions, leaving many millions more desolate?" Is it possible to have concrete answers? The more we question the unquestionable, the more we get frustrated and bitter. Cynicism leads us to naught.

If we can find a moment, just a moment, and live in that moment, and live it to the fullest, then indeed, we have lived. A lifetime could then condense into a moment, and a moment could transform into a lifetime of bliss.

-taken from I.M.O.W stories by Sumithra Prasanna

http://www.imow.org/community/stories/viewStory?storyId=2512