“Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.”
Almost all of us have heard or read these lines at least once in our lifetime. H.W. Longfellow’s poem A Psalm of Life is often taught to us at the early stages of life. It stands for the eternal lesson that there is more to life than simply brooding over our failures, our shortcomings, our mistakes and most importantly our steady progression towards death.
The poem progresses to tell us that we should not succumb to the many obstacles that we face in life. On the contrary, we need to screw our courage to the sticking place and move on ahead with a heart for action. And, finally, it is through our action that we can stand out as an example for our fellow beings. In short that is the essence of this wonderful poem.
But why did I have to write so much on this composition? The answer is simple. We need to understand the fact that life may be filled with countless instances of sadness, but that does not mean that we will not have time for the good things that make our lives sublime. Sure, there will be myriad situations that will make us mournful, but it will definitely not become the sole aspect through which human lives can be defined.
We need to realize the fact that each and every one of us need to take an active part in order to give time to the good things of life. It is really easy to become sad, to be demoralized at the smallest of misfortunes, but the real warrior is the one who rises back up from all such bad luck and starts building his broken empire all over again.
Our repeated efforts need to remind us of the fact that we are living for a really short time. And we need to make the most out of this time in order to respect the life we have been given to live. Each and every little bit of love and care we have received till date will turn out to be a blessing when we take a minute to appreciate the good things we have had the pleasure of experiencing in our life.
If we have ever been in love, we are among the lucky few to have experienced it in the world. We need to remind that to ourselves once in a while. It does not matter if the love we once shared has not been able to stand the test of time… the sweetest part of such remembrance is reliving the moments that made us realize we might love another person more than we did ourselves! Sure, there is a tinge of pain streaked on such memories, but it helps us travel back to the good old times once more.
Love need not be simply for another human being. We might feel loved and that too, unconditionally, by an animal. The love we receive from pets is another treasure trove of good memories that we can always go back to whenever we are thinking of the good moments in our life. The happiness that sparkles in their eyes whenever we return home after a long day’s work is pure magic.
If we have been pretty much alone in our adult lives, then our victorious lonely moments might serve to be those rare good moments when we felt elated for a change. It might be the proper execution of a very important task in our office or being able to carry out some big responsibility on our own. We might have been recognized as a potential and efficient worker at that exact moment.
There can be thousands of memories that can turn out to be good ones. After all, everyone has, at least once in their lifetime, done something that they can be really proud of. And those who are convinced that they have been able to do nothing of that sort, need to take some time and think long and hard at all of their actions in their life. They are sure to have done something exceptionally well. That is what truly matters. That and being grateful for all the greatness around us.
Written By Poonam Chatterjee
Week 15, April 2021
