Life.....

Life. So fascinating in itself. There is no need to be scientific about it; life concerns us all, simply because we live it. We don’t usually start analyzing the smallest form of life known to man, or when we can start counting the days we’ve lived. We are just alive living! And unless we fall into the trap of exploring the mystery behind how it is possible we can lead a full life, making choices and do purposeful actions, life is pretty neat. It is so basic, so profound that man does almost anything to stay alive, even when we face the end.

We hear about those who find peace of mind and face the end of their lives with await. They have come to terms with what is about to happen: Life, the one we know of, is about to end. Others have been in life threatening situations, reporting how the life they’ve lived (so far) passed them by.

To most, of those I have heard of, an experience like that changes their values, beliefs and how they conduct their lifestyle. They got a second chance. Usually, when we talk about second chances, it means to do better according to the insight we gained from the past experience. I have never heard about people referring to a second chance as a new direction on their own behalf: someone else/others are involved.

The nature of life has always been food for thoughts. To get answers to the questions about life and death, and try to make sense of the puzzling phenomena of life, is part of what we do when trying to find our inner self.

Great thinkers like philosophers, authors, scientists and just the average man on the street have all pondered about life. Not just life itself, but what was before and what will be next? We look for answers. Most find it in religion, some work hard to have no religion, a few make a point of abusing religion. Same thing goes for politics and both can be strengthened by lifestyle.

Literature, on every level and every genre, is full of wisdom and quotes on how to lead a meaningful life. And that is what we all struggle to do; we go through life on a quest to find a purpose… and live it.

We have this urge to make a difference, to live life to the full and leave behind a legacy of some kind.

“Notice that our ordinary, everyday concept of life does not settle what the true nature of life is. Thus, we are not concerned here with careful delineation of the paradigms and stereotypes that we commonly associate with life. We want to know what life is, not what people think life is. Glass does not fall under the everyday concept of a liquid, even though chemists tell us that glass really is a liquid. Likewise, we should not object if the true nature of life happens to have some initially counterintuitive consequences”.

The Nature of Life by Mark A. Bedau (http://people.reed.edu/~mab/papers/life.OXFORD.html)

I read and understand what is written in the article quoted here, but since I don’t believe we can fully comprehend what life is (in my mind it just becomes so great, so overwhelming, it just turns out to be impossible to take in and fathom), my thoughts on what life is are to me far more important. Dreams, thoughts, plans, expectations, experiences, emotions, actions, circumstances, values, believes, the joys and sadness, the anger and grief… everything which in one way or another makes an impact on me as a person.

To me life is motion… with attached emotions. That is what life is, and what makes life so precious.... to me.