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When to
the sessions of sweet silent thought HOW true and apt are these beautiful lines as you come to the end of the innings of life, ready to return to the pavilion having played the last mandatory overs. (It’s the age of cricket after all. These are the moments when the mind often reflects nostalgically on all the sad and happy memories of the years gone by and you wonder that if you could put the clock back and live your life all over again, would you have played the game differently; done this or not done that and would life have been any different or happier? But there is no way to ever find out — is there? For life is like a limited overs match — there are no second innings!! How brief and fleeting it all is when you think of it, for the curtain will soon descend and it will be time to leave the stage and you wistfully ask yourself, whatever happened to all these hopes, desires, dreams and the wonderful plans that you had so earnestly made. Surely it can’t be over so soon, you feel as you recall the happy carefree days of your childhood when every awaking moment was for playing and tomorrow was only another game. Then came the heady days of youth; the loves and heartaches and the hurried attempt to fill the cup of happiness in those few short years for you knew that waiting around the corner were the struggles and responsibilities of a career, jobs, marriage and raising children. |
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| The hustle and bustle of life is over and
the din has died down. The children are settled, leading
their own life, with their own problems and bringing up
their own children and the thought of parents is a
distant worry at the back of their minds. As is the law
of nature, the wheel has turned full circle and it is
time to come to terms with the only real reality of life
and that is death. Even though one always knows about the inevitability of death, it is amazing that one seldom associates it with oneself — if at all you think of it, it is only in passing and pushed to the back of the mind. How else can you account for the sad and solemn faces that people put on at a funeral and as soon as the last ritual is performed, they rush of to resume their lives, their appointments, their schedules, their social engagements and of course the never ending quest to make more and more money to impress more and more people — seemingly unaware that a similar fate awaits them. At this stage of life, you are fortunate if you have someone to share your joys and sorrows but it often happens that you have to cope with it all by yourself. You then fall back on your own inner resources, strength and resilience to put the unhappy periods of your life behind you. A person who can distinguish between loneliness and solitude can never be truly unhappy or dependent on others for his emotional sustenance. How one hates being alone — we avoid solitude as if it was a secret vice and try and fill the vacuum somehow with conversation and companionship, thus denying ourselves the luxury of silence. Little do we realise that while loneliness, like suffering, is one long moment and is always there, solitude is something that we seek ourselves to find the true essence of our inner beings and an answer to a deeper meaning of life amidst the increasing complexities of modern existence. Being by ourselves can be a tranquil period of total peace where the past and future are cut off, only the present remains, and we are away from all the trivia that we normally surround overselves with in our lives. If perchance you are of an amiable and contented temperament, then the powers above have been truly kind — for to come to terms with the highs and lows of life you must be a contented person who happily accepts whatever the gods have destined for him; one who dwells more on the good things that have happened in his life instead of grumbling about what should have been. After all there is so much to be grateful for to the gods — health, the gifts of music and books, the beauty of nature itself, and the companionship of good friends who have stood by you over the years. Surely enough blessings to make your peace with the maker when the time comes. |
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