 Nothing is Impossible (What are you waiting for?)
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” - Oscar Wilde
Our existence on Earth is temporary. Fact. We have a limited amount of time, but also an unlimited amount of opportunities of how to spend it. So, it is shocking to me then to observe exactly how many people live their lives in passivity, refusing, or perhaps simply being afraid, to take control.
As children our lives are planned out for us by our parents or guardians. We live in a passive state, because we do not yet have the freedom to choose. But once we hit puberty, things start to change. Everybody has a breaking point, in which the world suddenly goes from pink and fluffy to full color, contrast, saturation and all that. We realize that we are able to think and decide for ourselves. But for some strange reason, not many people take full advantage of this power. We accept stereotypes, rules and prejudices; we let ourselves be carried along with the flow. And if we do use our power, we usually use it to protest against rules, to do things we shouldn't, etc. Just because we can. But this is only one aspect of this power, and not a very positive one at that.
Nothing is impossible.
In other words, with a lot of drive and effort, anything is possible. But why then so we let these opportunities slip by? Our lives, the time we have is the most important thing we have, how can we be lazy about it?
"Every day, God gives us, as well as the sun, a moment when it is possible to change anything that is causing us unhappiness. The magic moment is the moment when a "yes" or a "no" can change our whole existence. Every day, we try to pretend that we do not see that moment, that it does not exist, that today is the same as yesterday and that tomorrow will be the same too. However, anyone who pays close attention to his day will discover the magic moment… a moment in which all the strength of the stars flows through us and allows us to perform miracles."
(By Paulo Coelho, from "By the river Piedra I sat Down and Wept")
We settle into a routine, our safety blanket, and shut everything else out. Because of Fear. It is the strongest force that holds us back. We are afraid of the new, unusual, unknown. Because we cannot categorize or stereotype something we haven't experienced, it doesn't fit in our minds, so we push it away. We're afraid to make mistakes, of failing, or regretting our decisions later.
But what are mistakes anyway? And who has the right to judge?
Why do you think that even YOU have the right to decide what was a mistake and what wasn't? How do you know? You don't ever, ever see the Bigger Picture, of how something terrible could have set of a chain reaction that lead to something wonderful. You can only guess, regret, worry, etc. But what for? You can think of what could of, should of, would of happened, but in the end its simply a waste of precious time.
We make decisions. Every minute of every day. With these decisions we control the course of our lives.
Of course there must be both good and bad things, mistakes are unavoidable, but we must do the best we can, strive to be the best we can be. If we never try we will never succeed. If we always retreat we can never have victory.
So, what are you waiting for...?
BY ANNA KORSUNSKA (COMD/II)
annak@ug.bilkent.edu.tr 
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