As we come to over a year since the pandemic first started, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. There are many people getting vaccinated and many public places are loosening their restrictions on face coverings. This is all to be taken with a grain of salt, however, because many experts are still saying this is far from over. There are new varients of the virus, which are more contagious, and it it is still unclear if the vaccine will protect against those. Also, there are many people who, for whatever reason, still don't want to get vaccinated. So I look hopefully towards the future, but still stand at the ready for further trouble.
I appologize for the long delay since my last post. I guess you could say I had a drought of ideas, and only today have I thought of one of interest enough to me to bother writing about.
I greatly dislike the saying, "Live each day as if it's your last". I understand the sentiment behind it, and I agree that life should not be wasted. But I find several problems with it, the first being that if you lived that way, you wouldn't get much accomplished. Think about what you would want your last day on earth to be like. I don't think many people would choose to go to school or work as usual, have sub-par food, and end the day with a boring t.v. show. You would probably want to do something memorable like have a party, go somewhere beautiful or exciting, or doing something you love. However, it is not practical to do things like this every day. Life is a combination of mundane tasks and pleasant moments. There is no way to elimiate the mundane and still accomplish anything worthwhile. The best you can do is try to have more good times than bad.
Now maybe when people say, "Live each day as if it's your last" they they don't mean it so literally . Ok, well that still doesn't work for me. If you are living that way, you are probably thinking a lot about death. It is my theory that most people ignore the thought of death 99% of the time, because if they did think about it frequently, they would be very depressed. Thus defeating the whole purpose of living a happy life. I know there are those who can think of their own demise without much aggitation. But, for the vast majority, I think those thoughts are not helpful.
I have heard of people who have had near-death experiences, and some say it is so wonderful on the other side that you would be begging to go there if you knew what it is like. Where, then, does that leave the living? Deeply unhappy because they can't yet have what they long for? Unable to find purpose in life knowing that what waits on the other side is so much better? I'm not here to debate the existence or non-existence of an afterlife. I just think that it would leave most people in a precarious position if they felt caught between one world and the next.
For me, taking pleasure in the little things, helping others, working hard, learning, loving, and not dwelling too much on the past or future is the way to go. It may not be a perfect philosophy, but I don't think there is one. My hope for you is that you find what works for you, and when the end comes you are content with what your life has been.
