Saturday, July 17, 2010

Live your Life

ALOHA.

A wise man said:

"Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen,
even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind"
- Leonardo da Vinci 

My mind has been somewhat inactive for a while now. I had been doing the same things for a long time; expecting different results and hoping to experience change in my situation. For example, I was so busy writing my dissertation for a little over a year back there that I was only reading books and articles in my field, plus I was caught up in a wrong romantic situation, and didn't take the chance to stretch my outlook on life.

This went on for a while until something snapped! I started feeling stagnant, I started feeling mentally weary, fagged out, depressed (the magic word!). I knew I had to re-evaluate my life, I knew I needed to review my choices, and I knew I had to give up some good things so that better things would come along. I knew I needed to change.

Somebody said "life is too short, then you die". At the rate I was going, my soul knew that I was just waiting to die. I had resigned to fate, stopped dreaming, and hoped that at least I could just exist. I was taking everything for granted. Do you see where I'm going with this?
I became complacent. So for example, even in that wrong relationship where I knew he was cheating/going to cheat, I stayed in it because I thought he would outgrow the habit and learn to truly commit. I figured he was the only one for me, so we would just patch things along then eventually get hitched! Yeah, great idea, Anya! You really planned out that one well. I was being complacent.

Another example, in my grad school work, I started putting in the minimal amount of work. I no longer cared if I published or not. I was bored. I just wanted to get by. I thought to myself: nobody cares about what you have to say, people are too vain to get it. I was wrong! People did want to hear what I had to say, I was very relevant.
They say hindsight is 20/20. Well, I concur. What was I thinking back then? I had filled my mind with too much rubbish to notice I was infected. I was sick with Fear. My blood was toxic with Complacency.Today I know different. I can feel the life rushing through me. I feel like I just recovered some lost limbs. I can walk, I can run, I can fly. I can dream.

So I must tell you -- if you can dream, dream BIG. Live your life with passion. Don't take people for granted; better yet, don't take yourself for granted. I know it's cliche, but honestly, you have one life to live. Explore your options. Seize every opportunity. Be thankful. Then just breathe. 


I took this picture of one of the roses in my backyard. So pretty :)

11 comments:

Ms.O said...

I LOVE THIS! This wa sme last month! I just felt stagnant! with work, career, relationship, so I made a lot of chnages and I am very happy right now. Thank God!

Nee Fe Mi said...

awww well written, and i hope people read it and are moved, glad things have changed for you as well

Jennifer A. said...

Beautiful, beautiful post. Dreaming BIG is the way to go...we weren't created to be mediocre or complacent.

Anonymous said...

I can relate to your post so much ... am going through some really trying times and everyone keep saying snap out of it ... reading your post just makes me realise something I already new .. LIFE IS TOO SHORT... lol anywyz thanks for the post ... ☺

olusimeon said...

thanks for sharing.. sometimes we think we know enough but go right ahead to act like we don't know..
thanks ..
'

The Girl with the Red Hair said...

thanks for the post. Life is most definately too short to be complacent.

whateveryouwantittosay said...

Reading this, I realize that I relate to how you were feeling much more than I would care to admit. I've been living divided, one part of me blooming, thriving, growing, while the other part of me is wilting, and, yes, complacent. I'm still trying to figure out how to revive the rest of me...

Love the Da Vinci quote. Enjoyed your blog...

Nice Anon said...

back to stay eh?

Myne said...

Lovely post, I had your dilemma while writing my thesis, never recovered. But I have learnt and continue to...

Chris Ogunlowo said...

Yes. Pretty shot.

Third World Profashional said...

156lbs and counting. God dey!