Retirement offers a new lifestyle, daily schedule, and rhythm of activities. After two years, I find that I don’t just look, I see more things. I don’t just hear, I listen to more details. I’m discovering new plants, smelling new flowers, trying new recipes, and developing new friendships.
These things were not absent earlier; instead, I was absent. The pursuit of livelihood and raising family demanded much more time and effort. But now, my newfound time allows me to see, listen, observe and learn. And continue to grow in the process.
In our journey of time called life, we all take a different path. But all of us start and end at the same destination.
No matter where someone is born, our life starts with a newborn’s cry, and if we are lucky, surrounded by loved ones. There are no guarantees whatsoever what life holds for that baby. At birth we can’t decipher all the noise around us, don’t recognize what we are looking at, and have to rely on others for our nourishment, care and all our needs.
Throughout life we all strive to get more and more tangible things. But most of us forget that at the end of life’s journey, we go back to the same destination, and cannot take anything tangible with us. All our wealth, prestige or power makes no difference in the final outcome. We go back empty-handed. We lose our hearing, our sight, and many times our memories and our mind. And if we are lucky, we are again surrounded by loved ones when we die.
Humans tend to want something more or better than the next person. And we have resorted to force and war to take away from others what we want. Humans are also experts at rationalization, so we rationalize to justify our actions. Religion is supposed to be a guiding principle, a calming and directional light to show us the way. However, throughout history humans have used religions to justify horrendous acts of terror and injustice. Yes, rationalization is indeed a vicious tool.
We are just passing through this world. Life is unequal, and not everyone gets all that they want. But I believe that if you are lucky enough to have enough “things” in life, you’d be better off to keep what you need, and then use the rest to help others. Every religion pretty much says the same variations of the Ten Commandments, and foundational to that list is the message of respecting and helping others.
I know people who do not believe in God. No matter what name we assign to this Being, I’m absolutely convinced that a Creator exists. We humans really have not been able to create anything at all from scratch. All we do is take what God has given us and change the form of that for our use.
The building blocks of all forms of energy, materials, clothing, food and shelter come from the earth or the environment. These are all gifts of God. We may know how to splice a gene and come up with a disease resistant variety of corn, but no human can make a single atom of corn. We can grow a cell culture in a lab, but we cannot breathe life into a single cell.
This world offers us everything we need. There is enough food, water and air in this world to sustain everyone. But carelessness, greed and selfish behavior does not allow equitable distribution of these life-sustaining resources.
The rhythm of life keeps on ticking. Our universe is vast and humans are a tiny fraction of that. The story of one life means nothing to the drumbeat of time. BUT, if you are lucky enough to have loved ones, then what happens to you means the world to someone close to you.
So why do different people end up with different lives? What determines the trajectory of one’s life? What sets in motion the seedling of one’s life story? I think it is fate, and God’s will, which determines that. We all work hard, go through struggles, and achieve the results of our individual efforts. But that is also the result of fate, many people lending you a helping hand, and the choices you make to move forward.
It seems to me that if life has been kind to us, we need to cherish this good fortune. We need to be humble, grateful and share this with others. No matter how small or large that help is, the end result of that helping hand can be profound over time.
A simple act of kindness, a gentle word of support, or even a sincere smile can brighten the world for someone. And who knows, maybe that small token of generosity may lift the spirits of that person, and convince him not to harm himself or others that day. We don’t need to know that definitively. We just need to decide that we will be grateful for our life, share more of what we have been blessed with, and acknowledge our Creator’s grace and goodwill in our hearts daily.
Why? Because as I said earlier, we cannot take anything back with us when we die. So we might as well be grateful for what we have, keep what we need, and use the rest to help others.
Sheriff Ahmed is a 35-year resident of Savage who contributes to Community Voices.
