Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Wake up, feel the simple pleasures of life

Saleh
Saleh
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No matter how strong it is, nothing lasts. I was in one of those moods as I enjoyed the sheer pleasure of being well and alive. I watched the wind touch everything around me. I saw the grass dancing in the breeze and the branches of the trees bowing gently to its rhythm. I was in the same place when it rained and when the unbearable hot sun scorched everything in sight. The trees, rocks and even wildlife endure the hardship of the changing fortunes to live another day.


Simple gestures give one simple pleasures. When the rain drums on a tin roof, it gently reminds you to be more attentive to minute details. The uncompromising hot summer tells us that life is just one heartbeat away from decay. Yet, some of us treat every passing day with a silent scorn and believe that the minutes are nothing but a march towards certain death.


Many are guilty of idling the time away and holding off the good times until retirement.


“I look forward to my retirement, so I can relax,” I recalled somebody saying.


Though only in his mid-30s, he was determined to rush through the next thirty years of his life so he could start living.


“What about now,” I asked him. “Are you in hibernation?”


His answer was casual, but disturbing, “I am busy making a living now, paying bills, educating children,” he rambled on and on like an old washing machine.


So there was a difference between ‘making a living’ and ‘living life’. The man was putting off living a good life until he reached the age of 65. I don’t have a quarrel with people who walk past a blossoming flower without a second glance. I guess they are too busy working their way to retirement. However, I do have a quarrel with those who cannot see the potential in their lives and miss all the good moments. Many use excuses to cocoon themselves in a big ball of self-pity. As a result, they fail to rise above the obstacles.


You don’t have to be a towering six-foot-five to stand tall, or a dwarf to stoop low. You can see the horizon no matter how short you stand, and touch the ground even if your head reaches for the stars.


It is not a physical disposition I am talking about but the strength or weakness of one’s character. Fortunately, moments of inspiration are in abundance since they are associated with touch, vision and sound. They all have enough rhythm to lift one out of a dark mood.


As you read this column, look around and give a thought to everything you see. You will be amazed to find out that at least one object around you would stir something inside you.


Come to think of it, there are no real dull moments. Even a blank wall has a story to tell you. As a child, I used to associate damp patches and cracks on the walls in my room with the faces of the people I knew.


Personally speaking, I don’t have to search for inspiration. I can find them in every object I see around me. It is the only way to keep away depression from invading what I hold dear. It is not what you see important but what you feel as well.


Life passes so quickly and we have no time to see what is around us. It is time to wake up and feel the simple pleasures of life.


Saleh al Shaibany


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