“We only live once”, this was what my little girl said as I turned to the road leading to her school. I concentrated on the road ahead in time to recover from the shock of her utterance. As I dropped her off at school that day and kissed her goodbye, I thought of what she said before rushing off to begin my daily monotonous routines.

I have heard this short phrase many times, I sometimes used it when talking to people, but, I never pondered on it until my 11 years old explained its meaning.

Sometimes, I express myself openly and some other times, I crawl backwards. I, however, found myself sinking into myself and shunning the world around me as my commitments and responsibilities expand. With the vigorous effects of life’s ups and downs, I have locked myself in unending spiralling vicious circles.

The world is vast and beautiful. This is a fact we all know, but, in our busy-ness, we become unaware of the world around us. We become blind to the happenings around us, thereby becoming unaware of our inner self. We forget the true meaning of beauty, kindness and we lost the emotion to feel.

Everyone has a battle to fight be it psychological, biological or emotional and in these battles we created havens, sanctuaries of some sort crawling in and out.

We concentrate on the battles in our lives and become blind to everything else. We are like zombies, matching forward and backwards to the routines we created for ourselves, amidst the rush, nothing else matters anymore. The flowers, the people, the earth in general, meant nothing. We mattered most and that’s what matters.

The feelings of the person next to us meant nothing. We care less about what the world feels. We lost the purpose of our existence. Flowers grow and withered, the weather changes and the clock ticks away. Birds perched on the trees in our gardens on their accord. We planted the seed of hatred and its branches are ever-stretching. We lost trust in people. We talk just because we love to talk. We become dogmatic to our ideas, we lay down principles and become so rigid.

The world is crazy I know, but, in its craziness, we all have an antidote. I have a part to play. A part to just stop and breathe. A part to think. A part to show a tiny bit of kindness. A part to slow down and let our feelings show. I have a part to smile to a total stranger. A part to pick up the litter and dispose of properly. I have a part to be real and think of all other creatures we share this glorious earth with.

Part of living in this world is to be part of its progress, part of living is making an impact. Part of living is enjoying the good things the world has to offer. Part of living is to relish in its abundance.

We only live once to get it all right. To see the best in people and erect what has fallen. We only live once so get out and see more. We only live once and this is the best time to ditch our fears and try something new. Now is the best time to get out of our comfort zones and put our ideas to work. Now is the time to learn something new and forget about our loses.

Our mortal being has more to offer the world. I have grasped the meaning of the phrase and I have decided to give living a chance, after all, we only live once!