They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
- Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam
Ernest Christopher Dowson
Perhaps a good question would be how fair life is.
The answer, in retrospect, with all certainty is very unfair. As beyond the beautiful vignette is a story, comprising of unfulfilled desires, disappointments and desperation. Our life which comprises of the past, present and future elements is mostly like a river that ends into an ocean of unrealized dreams. The past is a vestige of unfulfilled desires, the present marked by expectations and the future tinged with hope. Now fortunately or unfortunately most things that we desire don’t work out.
An optimist would like to say that it is our shortsightedness due to which we take all things that we think, to be best for us. It’s perhaps in our own best interest that most things don’t work out.
Honestly there is no denying this whole theory. But as humans we also tend to get disappointed, just as much as we tend to anticipate. Why is it then that we anticipate when we aren’t harbingers of good fortune? Shouldn’t we just take things, then in that case, the way they come to us rather than expecting and getting our hopes pinned to something, which has a likelihood of happening or not happening. Why think all together and why dream?
I guess it’s all interlinked. If we don’t dream, then we won’t aspire and if we don’t aspire, we won’t work towards it and if we won’t work to achieve our dreams perhaps we shall receive even less. So I reckon, we always will aspire and end up getting disappointed for the things that we don’t get. But who said life’s fair. C'est La Vie, such is life.
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
- Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam
Ernest Christopher Dowson
Perhaps a good question would be how fair life is.
The answer, in retrospect, with all certainty is very unfair. As beyond the beautiful vignette is a story, comprising of unfulfilled desires, disappointments and desperation. Our life which comprises of the past, present and future elements is mostly like a river that ends into an ocean of unrealized dreams. The past is a vestige of unfulfilled desires, the present marked by expectations and the future tinged with hope. Now fortunately or unfortunately most things that we desire don’t work out.
An optimist would like to say that it is our shortsightedness due to which we take all things that we think, to be best for us. It’s perhaps in our own best interest that most things don’t work out.
Honestly there is no denying this whole theory. But as humans we also tend to get disappointed, just as much as we tend to anticipate. Why is it then that we anticipate when we aren’t harbingers of good fortune? Shouldn’t we just take things, then in that case, the way they come to us rather than expecting and getting our hopes pinned to something, which has a likelihood of happening or not happening. Why think all together and why dream?
I guess it’s all interlinked. If we don’t dream, then we won’t aspire and if we don’t aspire, we won’t work towards it and if we won’t work to achieve our dreams perhaps we shall receive even less. So I reckon, we always will aspire and end up getting disappointed for the things that we don’t get. But who said life’s fair. C'est La Vie, such is life.
In the end I would like to finish off by quoting Helen Keller. “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Therefore some people still dare to aspire while others don’t…. to avoid disappointment.
