Let Life be an Ecstatic Mystery
Whenever life hands me a tough card, I pretend that the card I wanted is the card I am holding. Do I deceive myself? Well, kind of; but this keeps the positive juices flowing through my veins. Is that wise? Well, I am not complaining!
I spend most of my free time reading books on subjects as varied as quantum physics to history, finance to geography and philosophy to fiction. Among the fiction writers, I have been a dedicated reader of Paulo Coelho and Mitch Albom and have read all of their works. Such is my dedication that I often re-read their books and strangely enough, I discover something new each time I read a book that has already been read!
In 2014, I read Coelho’s just released book, Adultery. The book delves deeper into how seemingly happy and perfect people suffer from mental agony because they are struggling with a monotonous life where everything is predictable.
Recently, I read the book again and I, now, being on the wrong side of 30, I have appreciated the book even more than I had appreciated when I was on the right side of 30.
The book took me to a little lane of nostalgia. Maybe, I have been scared of monotony all along my life like the protagonist of the story. And hence, unconsciously, I have been directing all my energy to keep me ahead of a predictable life curve.
People who know me closely often wonder why I am so ambitious. For most of them, the life I am leading is a dream one. Yet on a deeper level they are missing the point. I am not ambitious (maybe, I am); I am just obsessed to complete my bucket list (I agree some of my dreams are other worldly, literally) so as to keep my sanity intact from the monotony of a predictable life.
When I was younger, I was obsessed to know my future. In fact, I have been to an astrologer during my undergrad years. But then I talked myself out of this obsession because if I know what future holds for me then my life would be no more an ecstatic mystery but a monotonous certainty. What fun that life would be?
I don’t know how my tomorrows would be. And that’s the beauty of life. Whenever life hands me a tough card, I pretend that the card I wanted is the card I am holding. Do I deceive myself? Well, kind of; but this keeps the positive juices flowing through my veins. Is that wise? Well, I am not complaining!