I’ve been chatting with my brother about a few things, and one question he asked really stuck with me. Why would we even want to live in another world if we’re already happy and fulfilled with this one?
We all have this desire to have more, right? Our goals in life are like moving targets. When we’re young, we set our sights on finishing school, finding a partner, finding stability, getting married, having kids, having grandkids, and then finally retiring. After all that, we should be feeling fulfilled, right?
Oh how great it would if nothing stops us to achieve our goals right? However in life we encounter setbacks that stops us from getting to our goals, what do we do? It is easy to compare ourselves with others around us, friends, family etc. When we do that, it’s easier to feel bitter, it magnifies the things that are missing in our lives. This is especially true if and when those goals are not our own, rather goals that are imposed onto us creates resentment towards those who pushed their goals onto us. We long for something beyond our control and hope to have those things happen in another place, some place that is better, where all those dreams can be realized.
It reminded me of something someone told me: a God-size hole can only be filled by God. Maybe when we encounter setbacks, it gives us a chance to encounter something that creates space in our lives. To collect broken pieces, to build upon the rubble, to say that hope is never lost. Maybe not in this world, maybe in a better one, maybe in a place where we meet people that yearn for the same things.
We cannot control everything for sure, our world can be quite illogical in a lot of ways. But we should always remain hopeful and strive for things that would truly make us happy in this one and our e sekai.
Tag: roles
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Fulfillment In Life and Why We Want Another World
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Reconciling Destiny
The thought of destiny can be very beautiful, the thought that we somehow we are meant to be where we are. Is it a random chance? Is it so that we can enjoy life as is? If that is the case, how much control do we really have? What if we were born in the slums or a child from a poor family much more an orphan? Is it still destiny?
Suffering is usually caused by our own mistakes and/or the actions of other people imposed on us, I mean no one wants to suffer right? In life, we don’t need much, if we have clean water, food and shelter then we are good. It is might not be much of a life, but we are living and we could work our way up towards something better so long as we have a choice and say on it. The problem is when we don’t have a say or we are limited by situations, it maybe economic, skills, circumstance or access. The problem lies in the part where people impose or force us to move a certain direction I think suffering is part of discontentment of people. Either we think things are unfair, unjust or we think lowly of other people.
I struggled and wrestled with the idea of the unfairness of things, I couldn’t think clearly on how I would react if I was in the direst of situations. I mean would you blame an orphan about their current situation, and about not doing enough so he/she could get out of his/her situation? Rather we shift the narrative towards ourselves, our own control on things, how can I help, how can we create an environment that help foster a culture of uplifting. Often times we find ourselves powerless and lacking in options even when the intentions are there. Do we just move along and accept that we cannot do anything about things? Of course not instead we take charge of what we can do on our own and progress in our own ways, like joining a group, volunteering, making donations, etc..
So what do you tell an orphan about destiny, I think the right answer is to be prepared. Foster that orphan and tell that orphan that it was destiny that lead you to me. Because something has tugged my heart strings to move in order for me to bring you home. I won’t have all the answers and I can’t save all orphans, but I can at least do one small thing in the hopes that others would follow.
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Waiting When There Is Nothing
When you get presented the option on Shrodinger’s cat scenario would you assume that the cat is alive? Control is deprived from us and delegated to the “experimenter”. What if you were in the cat’s position on the experiment, in this case your life is in the hands of two different people, one a cold judge and the other a person that is completely detached from what happens to you.
Another test is the cookie experiment, here the kids are given a cookie in front of them and the scientist suddenly needs to go somewhere and requests the child to hold off from taking a bite from the cookie. If you were in the child’s shoes, would you wait or would you eat the cookie.
In both scenarios, there is no clear reward. Our only basis for what to do is what the scientist told us or their “authority”. That is hard for anyone, because we do not like giving up control, our view is often limited to something that is tangible, something that we want in the moment. Yet we are still given much freedom in those scenarios, we can roam around the room, we can rest or other we can find something else to pass the time. The focus doesn’t necessarily need to be on the actual experiment rather we can just do different things so long as we are within certain bounds. Given that on the first thought our choices are dictated by another, would you rebel and choose to not be part of the test? or would you trust that what ever happens it would turn out for the best for you.
I think that certain things require trust especially on 50/50 scenarios when we are given little to no choice. Cliche as it may seem, it would always be good to not focus on the problem but rather what we have control on. Maybe we end up getting punished or rewarded, and there might not be a good solution to it. In the end, we are still subject to this weird experiment and while others might not agree with me, I think it is best to keep lane and make sure we don’t mess up the “work” that they are doing.
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Reflections and Renewal
A new world requires a recount of the old one. If we have not experienced the old then we wouldn’t know what we want with the new. A child is disciplined when we don’t confirm to what is “correct” behavior, however who was it that defined the correct behavior. Why would we act in a certain way when we don’t have rules in place for our actions. In our world today, often times it is society that dictates what is acceptable and what is not. Comparing it to the old days, we have become more liberated and less concerned with judgement. “I have done nothing wrong”, “What I do does not affect anybody” or “everyone else is doing it” are common ways of thinking nowadays. Completely disregarding past norms, since they had little no benefit anyway. Bending and breaking rules, testing the limits of our new found freedom in order to be “yourself”. Innately, nothing wrong with that right? Having individuality makes us unique and experience is the best teacher after all.
Our standards suddenly become miles apart from what we previously had. Was is it really all for free, I mean did we not lose anything in the transition towards this “new world”? Like shifting from black and white to colored, new seems to be much better than the old. Often times it is, since I am not typing on a typewriter rather on a laptop computer. This is true for technology, but is it also true for other things? What did we lose in order to get to where we are. Is it really negligible. In all honestly, I don’t know or maybe I fail to see what I am missing. Maybe all the advancements and the know how somehow overshadow what is sacrificed, or is it that we just fail to notice it because it is too mundane and nuanced.
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The Bright View in a Dark Room
It is a common anime trope to have a dense character in the midst of all the chaos, completely oblivious while still staying positive. This humorous parallel is often true both ways, we can either be super positive of a situation or super negative about a situation. A toxic positive attitude can disqualify what others are experiencing and prevent them from opening up and sharing problems and struggles they currently have. On the other hand if we view things too negatively then we can’t share successes and celebrate growth. Words are a reflection of the speaker, thus we learn to take in anything and digest it in order to bring life onto our words.
Recognition of someone’s situation and their truth helps bring out authenticity and prepares us to plant the right thoughts that could bring out the best in people. Situations does not define a person’s capability to respond properly rather it creates an opportunity to learn to control what we say and do. Grips on reality helps us not fall into the stereotype of the above trope, rather it helps our higher self flow freely which stabilizes our emotions and reactions.
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The Subaru Syndrome, What Can I Do Better Next Time.
In Re:Zero, the epitome of “HERO” responsibility is the character Subaru. Re:Zero’s main theme is centered around “I am responsible for everything that revolves around me”, here the hero Subaru does not die rather when he does die in the story, it brings him back to a certain point in the story timeline wherein he is free to make different choices from his “past life” in order to change the outcomes or just not die in the current iteration.
Though the plot of Re:Zero is a little bit gruesome or romanticized. This kind of thing happens to us on a regular basis. In order to build yourself up then part of you dies, it maybe a bad habit that you give up on or an outdated way of thinking or maybe just choosing a better alternative. Either way, this “death” creates a new person, one that tries to do better in order to proceed with his life in meaningful way. This is the healthier, way to improve because it does not try to shift your environment in order to adapt to you rather, we shift our attitudes rather than focusing too much on things that we have little to no impact on.