“But if my life is for rent, and I don’t learn to buy, well I deserve nothing than I get, coz nothing I have is truly mine”.
Upon listening to this Dido single, I had the sudden realization that if we were mere souls making the choice of which life to rent we would not necessarily want our own. I was imagining how the classified of a life for rent might read. One thirty five your old woman, weighing 65 kilograms, with a light and airy manner, complete with brown hair and green eyes, not to mention the tendency to overindulge and is also available with childhood baggage and a masters degree in communication.
If we had to read our classified ad would we want to rent that life?
We often look at celebrities and wish for their lives that look so effortless, so thin, so rich, and so exciting. Do we really know what goes on after the camera has rolled and after the make-up and costumes have come off? We are very quick to want to swap existences with those who appear to have it all. But would we really be happy that way?
If I were a soul and had to make a choice of which body to inhabit, which life to choose, would I rent mine or would the choice to buy be obvious? Although we can look at our lives and find the things in it that are not so appealing, like a salary that never seems to be high enough, bills that are endless and that make one prone to decadent indulgences of a second (make that a third) glass of wine, there are also the good things, the real things that make us interesting.
Looking at all that we have gone through in our 20, 30, 40, 50 etc years of life, would we go back and choose to rent or would we choose to buy? Maybe the question of happiness boils down to the relationships and the lessons we encounter and learn that at the time seem pointless or meaningless, but that once looked back upon, create a feeling of learned-ness and a well rounded soul that has discovered; emotion, given love and been kind, even though that kindness may not be returned. If we had to rent our lives, we would not be living. If we had to become what we are not then our destinies and character would not be shaped.
As clichéd as it may seem we all have a story, that story is our day to day existence. How interesting we choose to make that story is up to us. Of course in life we have set backs and that makes the story at times seem depressing and unfocused. What we need to try and remember is that even though we are not Hollywood stars and may never have our 15 minutes of fame, we need to create our own spotlights and let our lives shine out like brilliant stars in this lifetime.
We are all an example to ourselves of how are shaping our futures and how by buying into the idea of us, how we are then banishing the notion of a half lived adventure.
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
