Do We Need Extreme Situations To Value Life?
An accident, an illness, someone who leaves or someone who does not return. It is in these moments that time stops. Brutally. And then something unlocks and we understand that we are just passing through, that nothing is eternal. It is usually difficult for us to value life, even if it is all we have.
Routine envelops us and we let ourselves be carried away. We want more, even if sometimes we don’t know what. We are neglecting certain links that were precious to us. We get used to things (without them sinking) and we get used to the comforts of home (without taking care of it).
Addiction: emotional anesthesia?
Habituation is that learning that makes us react with less frequency and intensity to stimuli that are presented to us repeatedly. We stop paying attention to the things we take for granted. We lose sight of the importance of being wiser or the chance to be accompanied by those we love.
But sometimes something destroys everything, throwing down walls, plans and ways of living. It sounds like a lie, but sometimes we need extreme situations to value life. And that’s when we appreciate what we had, and understand how absurd it was not to take care of it, not to have paid attention to it when we had it.
We know that life is limited, but most people fear losing it or feel fragile because of the inherent uncertainty of “today I am, tomorrow I don’t know”. This does not mean that we should stop planning for the future or thinking about the long term. I just want to convey here the idea that life is the present moment. So, thinking about yesterday or worrying about tomorrow, we fail to perceive the strength we have today, and as a result, we may lose our life along the way.
Valuing life doesn’t mean running away from routine
Valuing life doesn’t mean running away from routine or looking for extreme emotions to feel your heart beat. It means opening your eyes, taking care of the details and making the most of our time. It is about becoming aware of what we are and what we have, to thank and fight in order to maintain it. It also consists in paying attention to what is not working in order to remedy it and to make tomorrow a day all the more worthy to be valued. Valuing life is, ultimately, giving meaning to time and understanding that we can delude ourselves at any moment.
Someone recently told me how much they regretted paying so much attention to engagement. She said that she felt like she had mortgaged many moments by making room for certain people (by commitment) on personally important days or by working (by commitment) sometimes so late. She especially regretted those days when she had not even been able to see her children.
If I write this, it is because there are problems that do not deserve much commitment, since they are not so important that it. And I’m writing this, it’s also because there are things so important that, as common as they are, it’s unfair to take them for granted and ignore their value.
Our thoughts Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful. Are you one of the people who know this? Or are you stuck in your relentlessness …
