Life Starts and Ends in Bed

Let’s clarify things first: I won’t talk to you about the beauty of oversleeping, nor will I give a magic formula for helping people who find a losing battle against insomnia. However, with absolute certainty and belief – with a plain and strong conviction inspired by the greatest sages of the past -- I am urging everyone to start and end their lives in bed! By this I mean that we ought to cherish life, complete with its joys and sorrows, from the moment we wake up until we hug our pillows for an adventure to dreamland. This is because the major source of worries and anxieties is our ignorance of this simple act. We worry too much about a lot of things and many people suffer from depressions and die with heart attacks because they try to live yesterday, today and tomorrow – all at the same time! We try to squeeze the heartaches of the past and uncertainties of the future inside a small pocket we call “today.” I want you to say these lines to yourself: “I will live for this day only. I’ll not drag with me the dead past and fear the unknown future. I’ll enjoy my life until bedtime.” Keep these words locked in your mind and in your heart today. Do the same tomorrow and I guarantee that you have one of the simplest yet profound truths about living and solving your troubles. As the poet Horace once told a few centuries ago: “Cease to inquire what the future has in store, but take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.”

                But why follow my advice? Isn’t it right to make plans for the future? Will it not make sense to remember the mistakes of the past so that we can avoid committing our most embarrassing blunders? Yes and no. It is important to be prepared and have expectations of a better life. Most of us dream of owning a car, to have a wife from the race of the most beautiful supermodels the world has known, and have the cutest and most adorable children that show the exquisite quality of one’s genes. Common sense should also remind us of our fallibility as humans and that we ought to be cautious in life based from past experiences. But we must not see life as if it’s carried by some kind of an imaginary time machine. Nature does not provide us with remote controls complete with fast forward and rewind buttons. The only option we have is play – to grab and seize the day! Today is the best time to honor the past and prepare for the multitude of possibilities that the generous future may bring.

                A fellow once told me that we are slowly dying everyday. All of us are terminally ill patients waiting for that fateful moment when we will close our eyes for eternity. Maybe you’re saying to yourself right now: “Oh! I’m only in my mid 30’s, I ain’t gonna die yet. I expect to reach 80.” It could be true, but the point I’m trying to make is that we should let go of all our past resentments, regrets, failures etc. Do not hold them like precious little trinkets of gold. Most people do that and they live with a permanent scowl – a mark of sadness that make them close cousins with the Grinch. Most of us fail to welcome a new chapter of life offered by the bright new morning sun. A lot of women right now had given up the search for “Mr. Right” because “Mr. Wrong” had blown their hearts to pieces (and sometimes, their virginity, too). On the other hand, there are some of us who cringe in fear and despair even at the remotest possibility of a pimple on the cheek turning to a life-threatening cancer, or a slight pain in the stomach to a severe form of ulcer. I am not a believer of harboring depressions nor to a deep and destructive obsession to success. Let us think that today is enough. It’s the only day that matters.

                Now let us turn our attention to those who are masters of the no-worry attitude – our pets. Have your ever heard your dog worry of its prospect of bitches? Did your cat complain because it didn’t like the brand of cat food you bought? I haven’t heard of monkeys grumbling and picketing the governor’s office for illegal cutting of banana trees, raging themselves over the possible extinction of bananas. Sounds unreasonable to you? Yes it is absurd! Quite absurd – on our part as humans! You may say that animals are dumb and they do not think like we do. I agree indeed, for that’s precisely the tragedy that humans face. Sadly, unlike our barking and fluffy friends -- despite our superbly developed medulla oblongata and fine quality of our neurons -- we still fail to realize the beauty of a day lived well. We choose to live our lives dreaming of a Never Never Land where we can play with Peter Pan and Wendy. When we’re small children, we say to ourselves: “Oh! When I go to grade school, it’ll be so much fun! I really don’t like kindergarten!” Then as grade school pupils: “I think I should go to high school and college because this school and my teachers suck.” Then as we grow and enter college years: “I can be truly happy if I become a doctor, a pilot or an engineer and get married!” After finding the right job for us and the perfect partner in life: “Maybe I should wait for my retirement and enjoy my life.” Finally, as we enter retirement with all our greying hair and years of hard labor behind us, reason suddenly knocks us face first to the ground with the realization that we had missed it all. The roller coaster of life rode fast, swerved, twirled and spun upside-down while we only watched from afar – dreaming of another roller coaster that will never come. When will we ever wake up from the illusion of chasing happiness? It’s already with us, right here, right now.

                The author Dale Carnegie, in his book “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,” made this very important remark: “One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We dream of some magical rose garden over the horizon – instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our window today.” Let’s not be dreamers of magical rose gardens and fairylands. Our happiness lies in our acceptance of what the day brings. Forget the dead past – it has been done and it will never resurrect itself to something different. Nor should we worry about tomorrow’s “daily bread.” A good thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time. Let’s not forget that today is yesterday’s tomorrow. And how do we start reforming ourselves? Simple: smile and appreciate. Be happy for your good health, your eyesight, the food you ate, your friends and family – all the things you have. Appreciation is the key to a cheerful mental attitude towards life. Why not stop right now and think about the things you’re lucky that you had? Our lives have started and will end as we sleep tonight. This is a new day. Carpe diem! Seize the day. Live it. Love it. Cherish it.