There are sooo many books I want to read, sooo many films I want to see, I don't know if I can do all these in a single lifetime. I know I have to choose, which naturally results in some books' or films' abandonment, and I know this doesn't mean I despise the writer's or director's efforts in writing that "never-to-be-read" book or directing that "never-to-be-seen" movie. Nevertheless, I feel sad when I think about them. I wish we had more time for everything we love to do, and less time for everything we have to do.
I spent my afternoon with an old friend. She told me about a wise man she knows and respects. According to this man, and my friend agrees with him in most matters, there is a time limit for everything. You should not worry about an incident for more than, say, five minutes. You should not extend your grief for a loved one for more than a year. You should not regret a mistake for more than one hour. And when you're still worried after five minutes, or still grieving after one year, then you're betraying yourself. There's a lesson here, but if you're reading this, you must have already figured it out, so I won't put it into words. Besides, I may need to think a little bit more on this.
Did I say I wish we had more time? Even for worrying when all we want to do is worry...
i have just started to read (yet another) good book..."The Evolving Self : A Psychology For the Third Millenium" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
ReplyDeletehe says," in the midst of this field of stupendous forces a human life unfolds in what is less than a split second on a cosmic scale. yet as far as we are concerned, it is this, our own short life, filled with its few precious moments, that counts for more than all the galaxies, black holes, and exploding stars put together."
i definitely need to think more on this, but i believe you are right about the extent to which we should remain attached to phenomena. not too long...
when we say "life is too short", i don't think we really understand what that means, because we usually act like we'll live forever - and this is not about unworthy books and movies, we may find unexpected things in them too, but it's about sticking with the past for too long - and past is not necessarily last year or last month, it is the split second before now.
ReplyDeletethis is not a new approach to life, but i just thought about it for a while... and i see it made you think too, which makes me glad :)