What do you take from life?

Recently, I had the happiness of being able to celebrate another year of life. Always a time to reflect, to be grateful for everything that has been experienced, a time to value anything and everything. I know it sounds weird, but on my birthday, I thought, “If this is my senior year, and I die, what do I take away from life?”

I believe everyone thinks that, sometimes in life. After all: “What do you take from life?”

I started imagining what I won’t take, such as material goods, social status. This is funny, because we are so concerned about fighting to improve our lives, acquiring more goods, working to have a more recognized status in society, in an incessant quest to live in a more comfortable, more luxurious way. If we buy a house, we want a car; soon, a beach house, going on trips. Finally, we are always looking for more. Making it clear that I don’t think it’s wrong to want to improve your life, and have more comfort. However, if we know that we will not take any of this, why are we so concerned about this issue?

So I thought some more, and I realized what I’m really going to take from life. Amazing as it sounds, what we take from life are the simplest things. We take every kind word, every sincere smile, every hug, every kiss, every show of affection. Along with that, we take the love we feel for our family, for our loved ones, our friends. In addition to taking the experience through all the good and bad that we experienced one day; of the good things, we will remember with longing, with a certain nostalgia. From the bad things, we will take the learning. Every study will be important, every professional or life teaching, any learning will be valid; from the Doctorate to the advice of a humble lady, who talks to you casually.

What most strikes me in all of this is how much we care and fight so much for things that, deep down, we know we won’t take in the future. Not to mention the exaggerated importance we give to problems, which are so small when we think about life, about existence. We waste our valuable time, worrying about futilities, about nonsense.

It’s important that we can fight for what really matters! And what matters to me is to be happy, is to make people around me happy. Value friends and family, value health and life. Come what may, may we face it head on, with an open chest. We waste too much time “wanting to have and conquer” and valuing little what we already “have and are”. Let’s love our life, today and always, whatever happens. This is the point!

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