You must have heard people repeatedly reaffirming that life is brief, your time is limited here, etc. People say this for sure but do not know how to act accordingly. They just keep going with their normal workflow and repeating the old habit cycles.
It is true that life is brief, and essentially, it is your life and not time that is running out. But what should a person do once he/she realizes this experientially?
Do Something Worthwhile
It is usually hard for people to find something that they truly love doing. This process becomes hard because there are all kinds of people in the surrounding with all kinds of mindsets and opinions.
We usually let their opinions decide the course of our lives and get stuck. It is better to sit back, spend some time with yourself, and think what that thing that means something to you is. Or what that thing that you can do joyfully is.
Because anyway there are problems in each and everything we do in life. It is better to do something that is worth doing for you and brings joy to you. Do not be influenced by other people or your external situations.
Sit calmly and ponder upon yourself. Then, the problems that you can encounter in what you do will become learning situations and hurdles to growing off of, and life will be a friction-less process.
Being Serious
Many people believe that the key to achieving success or significant progress in something is being serious and disciplined about it. They always focus on having schedules, timetables, measurement of every minute, and having structured routines.
By doing so, most people (not all) fail in the name of success. Because being serious about doing something might make you achieve the end result, but there is no fun in the process. There is always comparison and competition, which takes away your attention from living and experiencing life properly.
You must not always be serious. It is sometimes useful, but not always. Being playful and involved with life is the key.
The Analogy
Swami Vivekananda once said, “You will be nearer to heaven through football than through the study of Gita.” He said so not because the Gita is bad. He said it because when playing a sport, people are never serious. But they pay all the necessary attention to the game and involve themselves so fully in it that they end up with an immensely rewarding and joyful experience.
The process of the game makes their time worthwhile because they are completely involved. On the other hand, people usually read the Gita and other scriptures not because they are curious or they want it, but because somebody else told them to.
They think it will fulfill their wishes and bring them closer to the divine, but that’s not the case. There is no involvement, only indirect pressure.
The approach to life should be this. Not doing something just because someone says it’s good. But because it is worthwhile to you, and you can be fully involved and joyful in doing it. After all, anyway, you are going to die. You do not know when your time will be over.
Some people might slow down and think there’s no point in working hard as anyway we are dying. But to experience life fully before time’s up, you better move fast, throttle up, and involve yourself fully.