In "Atlas Shrugged", Ayn Rand said, "A man's life should not be a circle. It should be a straight line". And this sentence triggered some thoughts in my mind...
A circle defines a boundary. A straight line represents an arrow, it points to your goal.
Life like a circle means a secure life. You have made both ends meet and now you are living a happy life. No more struggles. Things beyond this circle are not known, and hence not disturbing. Your life is confined to the boundaries of the circle. You keep traveling round and round on the circle. You live a life called as "regular".
Life like a straight line means progression. You are constantly fighting to move ahead. Every new step is an adventure. Life for you is not just about making ends meet. It is much more. You keep setting new targets for yourself and you keep moving along a new path.
Living life in a straight line is like living with the time. You move ahead with time. Things of the past are left behind. Time also always moves ahead in a straight line.
Living life in a circle means living a closed life. Bound with some rules and regulations. People who live life in a circle are more traditional, more conservative.
If you look around, most of the people live life in a circle. It takes a lot of guts to live life in a straight line. And this is a mark of a great man.
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Basic Needs
I have seen people whose life revolves around the basic needs of life. Their aim is to eat healthy food, exercise daily, sleep well and then every morning "download" the food properly! To stay healthy, fit and fine, they will set up the most ideal routine & achieve perfection in it. When they grow old, they will feel proud that they are very healthy and suffer from no illness. They have enough stamina and are content that they have lived a perfect life.
But my view differs on this point. Its good to eat healthy food daily & keep yourself fit and fine. But to keep your body in such a perfect state, you sacrifice a lot in life. To keep your health perfect, you do not travel different places, as that alters your routine for a few days. You dont taste different foods: as you are always skeptic about the quality, hygiene and nutritive contents. You need to sacrifice on your other hobbies, as they may come in the way of your perfect healthy routine. To achieve some out-of-the-ordinary things in life, you need to put in a lot of effort, which comes at the cost of your health: eg - to get good marks, one may have to study for hours, affecting his food timings & sleep timings. To be good at office, especially a software life, again you are living a "non-ideal healthy" life. You do not venture out to do the unexplored, lest it may affect your health!
I believe in the following lines:
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out & screaming 'WOO HOO - What a ride!' "
Life is not about sitting at home, doing only the basic needs to survive. It helps you maintain your body well, but hey - what have you actually achieved in life? What was your life worth? Look at life beyond the basic needs of the body. One has to die one day anyways... Isnt it important to live a "complete" life, even if it is short? What is the use of a life which has an intact splendid body, but nothing else - nothing else at all? Sometimes to build a perfect soul, one sacrifices his health. Isnt it more important to build a perfect soul than a perfect body?
But my view differs on this point. Its good to eat healthy food daily & keep yourself fit and fine. But to keep your body in such a perfect state, you sacrifice a lot in life. To keep your health perfect, you do not travel different places, as that alters your routine for a few days. You dont taste different foods: as you are always skeptic about the quality, hygiene and nutritive contents. You need to sacrifice on your other hobbies, as they may come in the way of your perfect healthy routine. To achieve some out-of-the-ordinary things in life, you need to put in a lot of effort, which comes at the cost of your health: eg - to get good marks, one may have to study for hours, affecting his food timings & sleep timings. To be good at office, especially a software life, again you are living a "non-ideal healthy" life. You do not venture out to do the unexplored, lest it may affect your health!
I believe in the following lines:
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out & screaming 'WOO HOO - What a ride!' "
Life is not about sitting at home, doing only the basic needs to survive. It helps you maintain your body well, but hey - what have you actually achieved in life? What was your life worth? Look at life beyond the basic needs of the body. One has to die one day anyways... Isnt it important to live a "complete" life, even if it is short? What is the use of a life which has an intact splendid body, but nothing else - nothing else at all? Sometimes to build a perfect soul, one sacrifices his health. Isnt it more important to build a perfect soul than a perfect body?
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