Staying alive
On a team-building trip taken by my journalism org, my club moderator gave only one rule: No one was allowed to die.
What was allowed, however, was practically everything else—injuries or getting lost—as long as it had nothing to do with our mortality, as we prioritized learning and making fond memories.
Yet, through this constant reminder delivered as a lighthearted joke, my club moderator was able to impart a crucial double-edged message. The first was straight to the point: Stay alive. The second sounded similar, but was the furthest from it: Live. The former emphasizes life in a literal sense, while the latter underscores the quality of it.
When we go through the motions of life, many fail to realize that there is a clear difference between the two, found in the thin line drawn between mere existence and truly finding enjoyment in living for what it is and what it has to offer.
‘Tis the season
The October to December season is widely mused online to be a period of “canon events,” a term that pertains either to an informal shared experience a group of people have or refers to a person’s life-changing, and usually distressing, moments that shaped them as a person. This can come in many forms, ranging from a beloved cartoon show having a disappointing ending to a person’s own unique experience with their first heartbreak.
While the experiences differ, there’s one common feeling: We are all going through it. This is especially true for students, with finals that are always around the corner, projects that pop up out of nowhere, and that one group practice that tests our limits. All of this, coupled with personal life, relationships with others, and additional issues, makes life seem like a test we’re designed to inevitably fail.
For most, this particular season paints life as a draining routine of lethargic burnout, in which every motivation to do well has already dwindled and transformed itself into the desperate pleas of “I just need to make it through this week” each week—a subconscious survival mode as we neglect proper sleep and meals, all in the pursuit of our academic requirements. In a state like this, with our workload reaching greater heights and our sanity depleting, it’s no wonder we’re left vulnerable to feeling overwhelmed as each setback stacks up.
Dying despite still being alive
Yet, going back to my moderator’s words, none of us were dying physically, but everyone was definitely in for it mentally. I would be lying if I said it was easy to enjoy life and all its wonders, because it’s not—but why? With a world so vast, and so wonderful, and so full of everything we love—why is it so difficult to be appreciative, even when we try to force ourselves?
The world has so much good in it, and so much to be in awe of, but like how cloudy skies can dim even the brightest rays from the sun, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the cacophony of our exhaustion and throw it all into the wind.
We become too immersed in what we’re supposed to do instead of remembering why we do it.
Most days, there’s not enough energy to even focus on “the bright side” of things. Yet, in tackling this, the first question to answer is where you get your energy from. As Taylor Swift perfectly said in one of her old interviews: “I get tired a lot, but I never get tired of it.”
In her statement, she acknowledges that what she does is tiring, but she couldn’t see the day she’d stop. This is because her passion fuels her, even when her responsibilities seem to want to blow out the flame. On days when it’s so difficult to get out of bed, we shouldn’t be thinking of what we have to do when we eventually do get up. Instead, it is essential to remember why we wake up each day in the first place. This could push past passion, extending to family, friends, pets, hobbies, and even a delicious breakfast.
As an old African proverb put it, “When death finds you, may it find you alive.”
Days never come back. They end and disappear into our memories, with nostalgia only being able to provide us a glimpse into what we once had. However, what does stay is the love we share when we live everyday life, whether it be through our work, with others, or simply with ourselves.
Death does not come when your life ends. Instead, death comes when the heart inside of you is lost. As you put down this paper, do what you want—take chances, get hurt, but most importantly, live life with this rule: Don’t die.
