living an ordinary life

(another old old piece i dug out.)

I've just realized, when I sit down to write this piece, that I shall feel grateful to have the luxury speculating on such things as the meaning of life. Life is not necessarily beautiful, sweet, satisfying and promising; in fact, it can be disappointing, ugly, cruel and devastating. If the only unhappiness grows from one's insatiable desire to have more or to beat all, well, that person belongs to a small percentage of lucky human beings. So, if anything, we shall always remember that life is frail and we shall always cherish what we have, right here and right now.

That said, what I want to lay out is my own simplistic view on living a meaningful life. It is certainly not what it is all about and it is not all my original ideas; it is what I consider or accept as important and untradable, thus inviting everybody to lay out his own perspectives.

-Life is a journey of self discovery and self acceptance. It is a miracle to have life at all; it is absolutely precious that each of us is an absolutely distinguishable individual. During the lifetime, we learn to identify and appreciate our uniqueness and bring out the best of it to the world. We also learn to accept own weakness and limitations. Each individual should not normally sacrifice himself for lofty goals.

-Life is about loving and caring. Family (nuclear and extended) is the extension or part of ourselves. Sharing and enjoying as much time together is the most fulfilling thing in the world. It would be a failure to achieve anything at the expense of loved ones. It would be regrettable not knowing the joy of a loving family.

Besides family, friendship is the most valuable thing one owns. It appears that we could choose our friends, but that is just a relative term (as compared to family). More often than not, friends are also bound by love or affection and not by criteria. It is particularly cherishable that of all the people in the world, we would meet and develop friendship with only those special few.

-Life is about prioritizing ordinary things. We can have a lot of fun in life without much hard work: reading a book, having a hobby, going to a movie, smelling a flower, "opening that special bottle of wine" (borrowed from WSJ)... Most often we busy ourselves with "important goals" and ignore such "trivials". Take a moment to think and we may realize that these seemingly ordinary things bring true joy and peace of mind. They are the essence of a quality life.

-Life is about learning and experiencing. One amazing thing in life is that the more we learn, the more we have to learn. There are always things we have just discovered and there are always things we shall know more about. Learning keeps us busy, entertained and fulfilled. Learning also makes us humble and open-minded. Life is a journey, one wants to experience and learn as much as one can.

-Where then are glory, fame and wealth. It takes natural gifts, hardworking and luck to succeed in whatever one's dream is. And it is a lifetime effort (when is last time we feel completely vindicated and satisfied?). The rational way to reach there is to live a well and balanced life, then to try hard, and finally to hope for the best. Trading one thing for another comes with a price. Paying too dearly often buys disappointment and regret.

Life seems this simple.