Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Ups and Downs in Life

snowy days...
It hasn't snowed for such a long time this winter. This time, everyone was expecting it to be a lot. But weather changes so fast... one minute it's going to be 4ft and next it's going to be 1in barely. Things are so unpredictable when it comes to weather. But then life is just as unpredictable too isn't it? One day we are doing something and believing that everything is all right…then all of a sudden everything changes in an instant…things spiral out of control.


I was reading this book called "The Pillars of the Earth”. It’s a great book about life in general: unexpected twists and turns people go through in their journey through life. The story is taken place in the middle twelfth century and back then things were a lot different from the way it is now. There are a couple of group of people the author focuses on and every single group that he mentions will at one point or another get intertwined in each other's life. Group with the status of royalty suddenly gets thrown down to a position of beggars or thieves in an instant. The children who only had learned the life of luxury suddenly has to learn to survive on their own without any support from anyone.

Life is about perseverance!! People face many challenges in life and it's very easy to give up. However it's in your ability to move on through such challenges that gives you or helps you build your own character. You are what your life makes you to be. You are born as an innocent child. Not knowing how cruel people and the world can be. As you are shown the world by your parents or guardians, you start getting the perception of the surroundings through their eyes (more like they show you the sugar-coated version). Then as you explore the world with your own eyes and learn through the experiences you have had as you grow up, these are the true reality: the truth that was shielded from you by your parents when you were a child. At the end, life is life… it has its ups and down but if you have the determination to go forward even when everything pushes you down, you will succeed. That’s basically how the book ends, on a successful note even though lot was lost to get there. Will everyone be successful though?

Another great book is “A Fine Balance: by Rohinton Mistry”. This is also similar, in a sense that it is also about life. It is set in some Indian city, and basically shows how life is like for a certain few who are not very lucky. Even while facing so many hardships these people never give up and are happy at the end. The story is quite depressing, but it gives a picture of REALITY that many people have not even seen or could even imagine one going through. Such is Life!!! It truly is a heartbreaking story…

You're left with many questions after reading the book.....What would you do? Would you be still happy? Would you have been able to keep on going? What is it that makes people say, that they love life and don’t want it to end? If you saw it with your own eyes, experienced part of it, would you be still ignorant to all of it? Is that the only way to go on through life?............................ ...............................................................................................................................................

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