WORDS: DEJAN VICAI
PHOTO: FROM PRIVATE ARCHIVE
COVER PHOTO: ANIMA MUNDI
Life is the ultimate test for everyone, nobody can escape its wrath, and most certainly nobody gets left out from life’s final judgement. However, does that mean we should give up? Absolutely not! Don’t think that you don’t have a choice, quite the contrary, no matter what, you do, and that’s what drives each and every one forward. After all, when life gives you lemons, you throw them back and demand a refund for the lousy lemons you got. Who likes to get lemons anyway? I mean, they’re sour and impractical unless squeezed into lemonade.
The point of life isn’t to live comfortably and to cocoon yourself into a blanket of niceness and sweet things surrounding you all the time, it’s about trying something new, exploring the unknown, and diving head first into what you thought impossible. Nothing good will ever happen if you stay in your petty little safe zone. Step out of your shell and go see the world. Without ever trying, you can’t really say that you lived your life to the fullest. Sure, sometimes life will be sneaking up on you and hitting you across the head with a crowbar, but hey, you stand up, look it dead in the eyes and demand another hit, just so you can be sure you feel alive.
Many will argue what life is and how you should live it, what you should and shouldn’t do, honestly, take that advice and forget all about it. This is your life, and you alone can decide what happens next. As much as life can be a ferocious monster, you can tame it into becoming a playful little kitten, but, only if you are willing to challenge yourself. We’re all afraid of the future because of its uncertainty, and of course, this means that life will have a few surprises waiting in store for us. However, we shouldn’t be afraid to keep on trekking, otherwise, we’ll be stuck in place, wishing we didn’t.
Instead of sitting with arms crossed and hoping something good will come our way, we should be complaining less and standing toe-to-toe with our problems. The easiest way to accept defeat is to claim that “life is hard”, yeah no duh! Life is hard, there aren’t any settings to lower the difficulty, the controls are awful, and more often than not, the graphics are foggy, not to mention there’s no autosave. Also, that doesn’t mean that you should find a safe spot, curl up and wait for happily ever after that might never even come. Take charge, stand tall, endure the punches life throws at you, clench your teeth and push forward. Dare to be different so that you can take life by the horns and ride it as long as you can. Eventually, there will be ups and downs along the way, the best you can do is enjoy it; something better you can do is cut back on the time the downs will last. It’s hard, but not impossible.
Accept the fact that there will always be someone who is better/stronger/happier/ etc. than you. It’s a cruel fact. Nobody likes it. Though, don’t view it as something that cannot be changed. Channel your inner jealousy and anger and make use of that energy to become better than that person whom you admire. Hard work is key to being better at life. Some people are graced by a dash of talent, but, they didn’t become great just by existing, there is a lot of hard work poured into everything in order to be good. Unless you have the time and will to succeed, nobody else will do it instead of you. And, the sooner you do it, the better you will feel. Not to mention that you will be victorious in the end, standing tall and feeling high on triumph, instead of moping around how easy other people have it.
It doesn’t matter how you do it, what matters is that you accept the challenge life has to offer, go on that marvelous quest, collect all the experience points and loot you can. And, once you’re done, do it again. Finishing a chapter in your life means that it’s finally time to unlock new features. That’s what makes life worth living, and worth staring fear straight into its eyes.
