THE PAST IS GONE, THE FUTURE IS HERE
The year 2017 is coming to an end. The tree 2017 has nearly
shed all its leaves, and it’s time not just to turn over a new leaf but to
nurture a new tree! 2018 is just beneath the surface waiting to burst from the
ground and take its place alongside (the soon to be barren) 2017.
365 days have come and gone. Plenty of water has passed
under the bridge. The tides have changed – sometimes high, sometimes low.
Perhaps there were floods at some point but no matter what, the river could not
have gone dry. Even though there may have been times when it felt like it was
dry, the river never ran dry.
The river could stand for both, time and life. As the famous
saying goes, “Time and tide wait for no one”. Time is the same for everybody.
Everybody had the same 8760 hours that 2017 offered, although some never had
all of those hours, others may have been sick or in coma etc but the point is
everyone enjoyed time. Each day everybody was gratuitously given 24 hours and
now all that time has passed. Nobody can go back and do something all over
again. The clock has run out, the tide has gone, the past is past.
Time is merciless. It doesn’t wait if you’re old, sick or
infirm. It doesn’t care if you’re not prepared for your exam or interview, or
if you have to meet a deadline and things aren’t working out, or if your loved
one has contracted cancer and is dying or if your salary hasn’t come through,
or your check has bounced. Ready or not, it comes and without you realizing it,
it’s gone.
The same goes with life. It doesn’t matter if you see life
as linear (you live it once) or cyclic (reincarnation/rebirth), the fact is,
you get it only once. In the linear model, it is very evident but so also in
the cyclic model. Despite the cycle of karma and rebirth, you live each life only
once. The law of karma dictates that your next life is dependent on the manner you
live this life. Therefore, great significance is given to this life. There is
no room for excuses or complains. Everybody is born at a certain moment in
history, in a certain place and under certain conditions, but life is the same
for all. Each one will experience life differently depending on his/her
condition but life-in-itself is common to all, the particulars might differ.
Everyone is born, lives and eventually dies. Someone said it
beautifully: ‘Life is the dash that separates your birth date from your death
date on the tombstone.’ No matter how short or long a life you’ve lived, no
matter the quality or the amount you’ve earned or the degrees you’re awarded,
all of it is collapsed into that dash between those two numbers.
I’m sure you are familiar with the name Thomas
Edison. He’s the reason you have lights in your house. He could have easily
decided that inventing the light bulb was an impossible goal. After all, he failed
at it 1000 times. Maybe you’re thinking that Thomas was simply destined to be
successful and that he breezed through life with his amazing skill and
intellect. Well, actually Thomas had to work harder than most people. During
school he had trouble learning in a traditional way and his teachers even told
him that he was “too stupid to learn anything”. His mother however, believed in
him and homeschooled him. Later, when he grew up and went in search of work he
was fired from his first two jobs for being too “unproductive”. Life may seem
unfair but it only becomes so when you give up and let your circumstances
decide who or what you should become. These people whose examples I have quoted
could so easily have given in to their circumstances. Life was unfair to them
and they could have remained helpless and become bitter. But no, they chose to
rise up against their circumstances, and thank God they did for if they hadn’t
then we would not know a light bulb and those children of the ghetto would
never know a better life.
At the threshold of the New Year, it is opportune
to look back at 2017 and look forward to 2018. The past year may have borne
good and sweet fruits and perhaps some bad and sour ones as well. A few
branches may have broken off (I’m thinking of relationships, jobs) and new one
may have grown in their place. The soil may have been conducive for growth or
may have been stifling. Perhaps there wasn’t enough sunlight, water or
nutrients. But whatever be the case, you have arrived at the end of the year.
You are who you are because of whatever circumstances you have faced and how
you chose to face them. It is not your circumstances alone that determine your
character and your status but it is your choices that truly define the person
you are. Perhaps you could take a moment and think about the choices you have
made in the past year and discover how they have shaped your personality, if
they are positive than treasure them and if they are negative than work towards
correcting them.
2018 is just beyond the horizon. What kind of you
are you taking into the New Year? Things may get better for you or they may
not; success may bless your endeavours or it may not; people may stick by you
or they may not; don’t fret, don’t lose hope, don’t ever give up. No matter
what, you can decide how you want things to turn out. You might not be able to
do much to change the circumstances but you sure can adapt to make the best of
whatever circumstances come your way. Remember, life and time is the same for
all but how they are used makes all the difference. That is what distinguishes
the successful from the rest; the extraordinary from the ordinary; the winner
from the competitors. The New Year is full of surprises. Who knows what
tomorrow will bring. At least, you ought to know what you’re bringing to
tomorrow. 
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