OUR HARSH AND BRUTAL WORLD

The utter helplessness I feel sometimes when faced with life’s situations has made me realise that we live in a brutal and harsh world.

What kind of a world are we actually leaving for our children…a world full of cruelty, struggle, failure, doubts and sorrow, a world so hard, you wonder what the point of it all is.

Every day that I drop off my son at the school bus stop, I question the wisdom of sending him off all alone into this world I sometimes am petrified of myself.  Today when I saw an older child lashing out at my little baby in the bus, all I could do was watch helplessly as the bus drove away. My little one is all of 4 years and he has already been pushed by the world and his family into a path of hardships and pain.

Life is tough and full of risks. There is always that person around the bend, who is judging you, trying to pull you down, gossip about you, deride your achievements, cheat you, make you feel worthless and scare you into believing that you are all alone. Is it all worth it?

Hardships in life can overwhelm us, engulf our very souls, and devastate us, leaving us bereft and deprived of all humanity, leaving us willing to do everything that makes our lives that much more easy and comfortable. All of us have the capability to be hurtful and mean. Good intentions notwithstanding, we all have the potential to be completely self-absorbed, self-centred and cruel people, when we think it is necessary and it suits us.

Our children, born with innocent souls, learn from us and then later see for themselves that the world is not as easy and comfortable to live in as their parents made them believe, harden and shrink their soft hearts, waking up to the harsh reality of their lives.

What should I tell my children when faced with unfairness and unjust and cruel behaviour, they break down in my arms and tell me they don’t want to make friends or face the world? With tears in my eyes all I can think of are the times, I myself have faced similar moments.

I have survived, yes, but am I the same person I could have been, we all could have been, if the world was a better place.  Will our children be able to survive and become stronger individuals, realising that the meaning of life is not just to survive but to actually live life, taking risks, getting hurt, and that life is all about, loss, lessons and the little triumphs and victories we score every moment.

Will I be able to teach them that time and experience build our character and spirit? Will I be able to set an example for them by showing them that each time you are knocked down to your knees, you have to get back up, stand up, keep learning, pressing forward stronger, with a better understanding and respect for life.

I have to first teach myself to be strong and keep the faith and that it will all be worth it in the end.  If we could just remember the following words I read on another blog, our lives would be so much simpler and happier.

“And remember, it’s not that those who are strong never get weak in the knees, or that they never hold their breath before they embark…  It’s that while their knees are shaking, they force themselves to breathe and take the first step.

As Henry David Thoreau once said, “When it’s time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived.”

Living is a risk.  Happiness is a risk.  If you’re not a little scared sometimes, then you’re not doing it right.  Don’t worry about mistakes and failures, worry about what you’re giving up when you don’t even try.”