“Life is a gift and a privilege.
We do not get to choose the contents of its package.”
This is a lesson from a lived experience, not a universal prescription. It lives within the context of safety, stability, and hindsight, not survival.
Life is a tall order.
An instigator of infinite debates and brawls for those brave enough to take on the challenge.
Expansive, like the depths of the universe, which can leave many of us in overwhelm.
And so, let me be brave enough to take on the challenge.
Like the Yin and Yang, life is the grey that stands in duality.
The duality of
Entrances and exits,
The rise and the fall,
The young and the old,
Life and death,
And the most familiar that keeps many of us navigating the same bend: happiness and suffering.
The struggle we often find ourselves in is the denial of this duality.
It doesn’t take a hard sell to convince us whether to make a bid for happiness or suffering. Who wouldn’t want to relive the most difficult moment of their lives?
With the stories we are fed from external systems, we are often left with a disillusioned outlook that is absorbed and normalized within our communal homes.
A belief that life and happiness are defined by such stakes.
This belief can reduce life’s duality to a single chord, where happiness is now shaped as a pursuit. A destination to arrive at.
And with a narrowed focus on our drive towards happiness, we miss out on the full scenery.
We become blind to the truth of life itself.
And whether we like to admit it or not, the pursuit of happiness is not without suffering.
Which begs the question, if suffering keeps resurfacing at different checkpoints, is there ever truly a destination?
Instead of a destination, may we accept happiness and suffering as states, allowing them to exist without stipulation.
And even if we can’t control the entrances and exits of these states, we get to shape how they enter our home.
A joyful experience brings happiness.
A painful experience brings suffering. But with a caveat.
Even in suffering, we can still choose a state of remedy.
It doesn’t mean it is always easy, but it is possible.
To know that just because we experience pain, we don’t always have to mirror it.
Because amplifying the pain builds into more suffering rather than allowing it to make its natural passing.
And the moment life becomes a death sentence, we stop participating in the gift it offers:
The gift of lessons.
The gift of growth.
The gift of love.
The gift of connection.
The gift of happiness.
And yes, even suffering.
And so life is a gift and a privilege to be lived in full.
We do not get to choose the contents of its package, but we do get to choose how we receive it.
If we receive it as a gift and privilege, it has the capacity, like the vastness of the universe, to open more doors than it closes.
And so in the words of Angelica Schuyler:
“Look around. Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.”
