Empty hands but not an empty life!

Empty hands. They say we came empty-handed and will bid adieu the same way. Metaphorically, that’s  true. All that we identify as us dies with the body. Then, why fret over frivolous things, they say? Ironically, it’s the frivolous things that make most of our lives. Bigger things happen occasionally. What sums up our lives are the small-er things and how we react, respond, learn and rewire our responses. It’s easier said than done, but also the only way to improvise.

How someone treated us, how were we respected and humiliated, how our life is at the moment—easy, hard, simple, luxurious— were we asked for water, did they serve us food, was the boss empathetic, did our children make us proud, does my spouse listen, do I have the life of my dreams, is the salary enough, am I even earning, am I losing or gaining weight, do I have good friends…or err…may be just one person who loves me unconditionally? Better still, do I love someone madly?

These thoughts are just the tip of the iceberg. The ocean is big and complicated. As tangled as we make it to be. Untying the knots become easier with age. But along comes different knots and complications…until one day we reach the end. Were all the efforts even worth it? We would never know as no one ever came back to share what happens once the body dies.

Basically, most of us keep moving in loops and just a few, or may be one in billion, actually sorts it out. Till then, we, the lesser mortals, keep juggling the mess, struggling with ourselves most of the life. Is there light? Yes indeed, we have been told by those who reached. But no one could show for it’s all about the energy, which can only be felt. The energy of the abstract, mystics, sufis, universe, your soul, or a simple smile.

While I will go empty-handed too, I don’t seek an empty life. That’s my deeper wish. Let me taste the nectar of the unknown before I bid adieu. Let the hands be empty but not the life I would have lived. Let it be the dance of ecstasy, of grace, a prayer and love.