Another Life

The famous American stand-up comedian Dennis Miller once said, “Born again?! No, I'm not. Excuse me for getting it right the first time.” What if you get another life, would you really want it? Some may be overwhelmed with the idea that they would get another chance to live right from the start and lead a "perfect" life. But then trying to be perfect would often stop us from trying something new, anticipating the chances of failure. We were told as a kid not to pull everything out of the jar at once and try little by little. After all we can't have it all. I think "Best", "Perfect" and "Great" are illusions, there are no right parameters to judge them. Moreover what seems great to others may not be great for you. Success that doesn't thrill you is only a success to the world. Why live a life defined by someone else, when each one of us is so different from another? Why let ourselves be judged by another when they don't really know who we are? It is only I who knows me better than anyone else and it is only when I am fully conscious can I identify my real potentials. Having the right life doesn't mean to live a life that seems right to the world but to be comfortable with what we have. I think the right life is when we are happy and have no regrets. When we realize that we are what we are because of the mistakes we made and learnt from them, can we be grateful. The right choices that came after lot of wisdom and these self learning can actually help us appreciate what we have. Nothing is perfect, nothing needs to be. Being born again therefore is not the right option but loving what we have and accepting what life has to give us each time is. Life is to be accepted, celebrated and lived to the fullest extent. I can best explain it in the lines below.

She balances both grotesque and grace,

And pulls me up to an uneven place.

Where I know not what is right,

Yet obliged to take up my flight.

She shows me light,

But that’s not bright.

There are shades, I vaguely realize,

There’s hope too but in disguise.

To pull her cover,

She takes my labour.

Demands concentration and needs patience

For she hears and bears but is in silence.

She blooms like a flower post some winter,

But again she withers, grows fainter.

Well that’s not the end,

For she tries again.

And this time round she succeeds,

She satisfies and meets my needs.

To conclude she is hard but sweet,

Sharp but smooth, like a knife.

She is pleasant, she is life.

Like a flickering candle she may glow with difficulty,

Like a struggling player she may win with penalty.

But looking deep I realise,

There is light in this life.