Chasing Vanity

One of the greatest comedies of this life is that a person thinks that he is doing a very important job while doing unimportant work! ~Mehmet Murat Ildan

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I have everything figured out in my head. I know how I want my life to be like five years from now. Do I work towards making it a reality? I do. At least that’s what I think. If at all I don’t realize everything I’ve visualized, I’m going to be at a loss. Four years, ago I knew for sure that I would end up in UoN studying Journalism. I knew the type of phone I’d have, what I’d be wearing, the company I’d keep and all the “good things” that would have my name on them. If you know me now, let’s just laugh because we know how that went.

Am I at a loss today? Hell yeah. Everything I obsessed about was not in my control yet I behaved like I had already seen my future. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we manifest our dreams into existence. What I’m trying to say is I didn’t pay attention to what was going on around me back then. I didn’t slow down to take in all the changes that came my way to live a day at a time and appreciate everything I didn’t bother to realize I had, everything that mattered.

I know I’m not alone on this, but that’s how my life has always been. There’s always something to do, to buy, to achieve, to win and I bet that’s how it’s always going to be. Why our lives revolve around these things is a concept I can’t fathom. What I do know is that more often than not, our idea of fulfilment or happiness is misguided. We miss out on life and the things that are truly important chasing vanity.

What do I think is truly important? Realizing that there are forces greater than oneself, accepting that we are really never in control, finding the person you are without your job or your possessions and having a relationship with God. In the words of Richie Norton, the truly important things are those that make you happier if you share them than if you keep them to yourself.

We are all enslaved by our dreams, bound by the fear of the unknown, fear of failure, rejection and loss. The only thing that’s certain is right now. Embrace it. So this is a reminder, yours and mine, to JUST SLOW DOWN!