In today's society, things are changing so fast that people don't get enough time to reflect on the changes happening around them. It seems like life is a race and most people are living their days according to the principle of "life is short" when in fact our time on Earth is determined by our thoughts, our actions and the energy we disperse around us. Balance is the secret to a successful life. In the following paragraphs, I will present five ideas on which you can hopefully reflect and make the changes, if necessary, to make the best out of your life journey.
There are notions, circulating on today's social media, that a human being should constantly be happy, live life with no regrets, etc. According to me, those are very destructive ideas. Human beings were created to experience all kind of emotions from joy to sadness (you may refer to my post of February 2016) while social media is bringing the idea that we must suppress our unpleasant feelings. Being able to feel various emotions and having different moods are what make us genuine and real. If we are not happy, then that does not mean we have to chase for new happiness but rather we must face our current emotions. Having regrets can help us protect ourselves for next time such as by not repeating the same mistake twice in life. We are human beings and we do not need to behave as robots with a constant smiling face. Sure, at times, a smile on a face is the best way to hide our pain if we cannot explain it in words to others. Otherwise, when we are able to show people that we are vulnerable, it's a sign that we are strong, confident and aware of our emotions and our worth.
As for resources, we all know that they are unfortunately not equally distributed on Earth. While some human beings are struggling to get access to water, food, clothing and shelter to survive, others are feeding their mind with the idea that they can get more than the luxurious life they have. Have you ever stopped to think about taking only what you need and letting other people have their share too? Be humble. It's not because we are given more of something that it necessarily means that we have to take all that is accessible to us. When we can acknowledge that what we have is more than enough for us, that means that we are blessed. And either way, the more we get, the more we want and the more we have to lose. In fact, "the more a person limits himself, the more resourceful he becomes" (Soren Kierkegaard) and this would be definitely an interesting challenge to take in our life journey.
Have you ever been torn between "if it's meant to be, it will be" and "if you want it, go get it"? I believe we have all been there or at least I hope so. Now, think about how bored we would be to just sit down home and wait for everything to come to us without us doing a single effort? Or how drained we would feel for always having to chase what we want? Either way, we would not be feeling good on the inside. So instead, a mix of "if it's meant to be, it will be" and "if you want it, go get it" is what makes life more interesting. Living under these two principles would allow us to feel both peace and excitement. Sometimes we have to let life surprise us, not rush anything and surrender to that flow. Other times, we need to set challenges to stimulate ourselves and make the efforts to achieve our goals. Once again, today's society always encourages people to go after what they want instead of being grateful with what they have and let some events unfold at the time they are meant to.
Another questionable concept circulating in today's world is the one of being kind to others under all circumstances. Nowadays, not being kind is often translated into being either a mean or cold hearted person when in fact it could simply mean that someone is trying to take care of himself or herself first instead of being a people's pleaser or that he or she disagrees to support the other person because their values are in conflict. At some point in our lives, we have probably been torn between "treat others how you want to be treated" and "treat others how they treat you". Both of these ideas are good for real life because the first way allows you to offer the best version of yourself to others and the second way allows you to respond to the energy provided by others either by being a blessing or a lesson. By always being kind or wanting to be a blessing to people all the time, we sometimes please people who may simply want to take advantage of us and that is wrong. We are not less than anyone in this world. Thus, it certainly is a good thing to be kind but we should not let others step all over us.
At last but not the least, I think the most dangerous concept in today's world is "do what makes you happy and don't care about what others think." I believe you may agree with me that people today focus more on short term happiness instead of long term happiness. All that seems to matter is the present because we are here today. We are encouraged to not think about the future because we may not be there tomorrow. However, what kind of world are we going to leave for tomorrow's kids? We need to learn that sometimes our actions affect other people. What we do is not just about us. We are all trying to make the best out of our lives by learning from each other, sometimes by not repeating the same mistakes others have done and sometimes by setting challenges for ourselves that others have taken for themselves. Our actions of today can be the echo of the actions someone else may take tomorrow so we must be careful in what we do and what we say. Then again, this does not mean we should always think about others before our own desires because there is indeed a challenge sometimes in walking on a path alone without anybody's support. It's all about finding the balance between doing what makes us happy and inspiring others to do good in the world.
To conclude, I hope this post has shed some light on how today's society is trying to impose certain ideas to people making them believe that it is how today's generation thinks. Real life is about balance. We deserve happy days but we must feel sadness at times. We can take what we need but we must let others have their share too. We can set goals and work hard to achieve them but we must believe that what is meant for us will not miss us. We can be kind to others but we must not let others feels that their needs come first and ours in second place. We can do what makes us happy but we must keep in mind that our actions affect others. Balance in life is achieved when the mind and the heart are in harmony with each other. The mind may seem tough while the heart is usually softer but both are essential to guide us in life. Beware of the energy you give out and remember that the secret to a fulfilled life is balance!
