The Flip Side

All of us say that we're going to do certain things before we die. We have goals and aims and dreams but we don't see the flip side of the coin. Many people think that the flip side is all about disappointment  and the failure to not make something of your life or be something great, but, ask yourself this, what if the flip side is actually about self-realisation? self-discovery? the exploration of different aspects of your life. What actually makes you the person that you are? If you discovered new things about yourself, would you change?

We rush through life. If we aren't dealing with personal matters then we're studying or working an 8am-5pm job, too busy to take note of what's actually happening around us. How many times do we stop and ask a friend if they need help? Or take notice of someone who's struggling to get ahead in life? We just simply switch off and say "Oh well, you've gotten yourself into that posistion, I can't help you, you have to deal with this on your own." The reality is that we have a responsibility to everyone and everything on this planet because like it or not, we're all interconnected. Why do doctors become doctors? To cure diseases and to treat people right? They have a responsibility to take care of their patients and make them feel better. So, in a way we're all doctors, we help each other get through life's toils and troubles. Your friends and family are your support system, take notice of them and give them the attention which they deserve because it is these people who ultimately make you the person that you are.

You only ever take note of your morals and values when you're in a situation that requires them such as giving a friend sound advice. You don't take note of your morals and values in everyday life. To all you philanthropists out there, how about actually giving that beggar on the street some coins every time you rush past him? Everyday life doesn't require us to use our morals and values. We simply get up in the morning, head out the door and are then so engrossed in our own lives that we fail to notice prejudices or hate speech which are against our morals and values. Only when we are trapped in a web of peer pressure and snide comments do we say to ourselves, "Wait a minute, this is against my morals and values". The only moral and/or value which I practice everyday is vegetarianism, because I have to, but that dirty politician or that dishonest businessman is laughing all the way to the bank simply because he forced himself to forget the morals and values which he was brought up with. The morals and values which your parents instill unto you is the basic foundation of your personality. How you choose to build upon that foundation is up to you.

Ever since technology has evolved, and continues to evolve, we have more and more crap to keep ourselves occupied with. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google, etc. Then our phones have these neat little applications as well to divert our attention from what's really important. I am convinced that  Mxit, BBM, Whatsapp and various other chat applications were created to just cause more and more drama in our lives. Sure, it's a good tool to have for chatting to old friends or friends in another province but when problems arise, suddenly, it's not so much of fun anymore. All of this takes up whatever valuable time we have in our lives. Yes, it is good to chat with friends who you can't see because of distance but do we really need to spend all of our time in the day doing just that? I am guilty of this, I will admit, I LOVE the internet and Mxit and Facebook chat. What ever happened to being constructive? And not doing that assignment the night before? All of these things flew out of the window as technology has evolved and so we need to integrate the idea that time needs to be spent with friends and family on a regular basis and not just cyberspace friends, for the well being of our physical and mental state. Our life is the most precious thing that we have, so why not live it to the full?

Another thing in life which we fail to realise is that material wealth is not important. Yeah, that guy who you see everyday driving that Mercedes and wearing those expensive clothes might have everything that he needs in order to make him popular but do you think that he's happy? Do you think that he's passing all his classes? He won't get far in life and you know it. That nerd that everybody picks on? The one who wears clothes from Pep?  Yeah, the one who's less better off in other words, he's the one who will be the most successful out of everyone who picks on him. Material wealth is nothing. It means nothing. At the end of the day, it's your intellectual ability which determines who you are and who you will be. Life is way too short to worry about material wealth. As long as you are happy, nothing else matters.

In saying all of the above, I urge you to once in a while, flip the coin. Take a break from life and just focus on yourself and what makes you the person that you are. We get caught up in life and it's demands that we don't put aside time for ourselves. Self-realisation and self-discovery can be powerful things. You might want to change a few charactersitics of what makes you who you are but change is good sometimes.  We've been blessed with a beautiful thing called life, how we choose to live it is up to us.