“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)Â
So much of our everyday life goes into tasks like planning, for trips, concerts, events, jobs, colleges and things that are a few months or years down the line, but when we realize the truth of life where we do not have control over tomorrow, we sit and pause for a moment. Between 2000 and 2019, natural disasters affected around 4.2 billion people and caused approximately 1.23 million deaths worldwide. So many statistics like these are available and then a few months down the line, they are less talked about. A few weeks ago, however, I came across a few reels about the recent floods in India and Nepal, and this time I found so many heart touching stories.
For those people it was like any other day, they could be doing normal activities like eating, daily chores or sleeping, then suddenly, in one moment, everything they once had was gone. There were families looking for their loved ones, people waiting for updates and calling different offices. Some people did not even know if their family members were alive. This can happen anywhere and anytime. It could be anyone tomorrow, what matters is not what can happen but what we have today in the present. We never know when a conversation will be our last conversation with someone, when a goodbye will actually be the last goodbye, or when something we take for granted will suddenly become something we wish we had appreciated more.
It also made me think about my own life and how many things have changed without me ever knowing they were going to. I have shifted cities, changed schools and now moved to college. Every time, there was this feeling of not knowing what was going to happen . Before moving to Krea, I remember wondering whether I would actually like it here, whether I would find my people, whether I would feel comfortable and whether I had made the right decision. At that time, I was so focused on everything that could go wrong that I did not think about everything that could go right.
Because how could I have known that I would meet some of the most amazing people here? The random conversations, unexpected friendships, experiences and opportunities that would become such a huge part of my life? If I had known exactly what was waiting for me maybe I would not have been so uncertain.
Sometimes we are so scared of the things we do not know that we forget that uncertainty can also bring good things. Not everything that takes us in a different direction is necessarily taking us in the wrong direction. Many times I have wanted things like some clothes or makeup but they were not available on the day I went but then I got to know it was going to be on sale a few days later. Because somewhere everything happens at the right time, this can apply with going to a particular place, getting a job, internship or a house and if we don’t get something we wanted today, we may get it tomorrow or when we are actually meant to.Â
I once read somewhere that if there is a lesson you are meant to learn in life, life will keep putting you in situations where you have to learn it until you finally do. I do not know how true that is, but I liked the idea. We think we know where we are going, and then something happens and suddenly we are taking a completely different path.
Watching those videos made me realise something else. I am incredibly lucky to be here today. Getting to live this life, do assignments, go outside, meet people and go on trips. These things feel so normal because I experience them every day, but maybe normal is something we should be more grateful for.
We are always waiting for the next thing. But in doing that, we sometimes forget that the day we are living right now is also the day we once waited for. I do not know where I will be a year from now. I do not know which people will still be in my life, but I think that it is okay to not know.
So maybe we should live more today, take that trip, eat that food, talk to that person and do what we have been wanting to. Sometimes tomorrow is closer than we thought and those who never made it home also had dreams, aspirations and a bucket list . We never know which ordinary day will become a memory and so we should make the most of today.