The Hustle for Balance

After what seems like months, maybe even years, I have finally decided to begin what now has become this substantial step in achieving my ultimate goal; mind control and world domination!

*crickets chirping*

By the way, that was a joke. So, I am clearly rusty at this. I don’t think that I have written anything of consequence in the last five years. The friends that have to listen to my tomfoolery have been nagging me about getting off my ass and doing this. If you may not know me too well, I truly am a professional procrastinator, not proud of it but I am so good at it. I can talk you out of the park but when it comes to action, I’m not ashamed to admit that I may forever be a student in that regard. And at the end of the day, aren’t we all slightly proud of being the best at not stimulating a single brain cell while functioning as a half decent human?

Like I said earlier, I may not have written anything of consequence but when it comes to experiences, I am your guy! Not that I have had a crazy experience or anything. Almost died but whatever, right? That’s for another time. Haven’t we all almost died? Shit like that will make you think hard about life, you know? Life defining changes are executed in these moments, especially right after a near death experience. What propensity to change did I demonstrate? Ha! I changed as much a centipede with the mistaken identity of a caterpillar did, not at all. Though, it did prompt me to think about some weird stuff, specifically; the hustle for balance.

I am not talking about the stereotypical discussion between wealth and love or what have you. I have been trying to dig slightly deeper than that lately. I would think about a fact such as, nearly two people die in the same amount of time it takes us to unlock our phones; one second. Yeah, it’s not a crazy statistic from the looks of it but if one of those people was a loved one? The entire trajectory of our life supposedly would change in the space of a second. Makes me realize that I am in awe of how extremely delicate life really is.

Imagine it. No! You don’t even have to imagine it! For just a moment, pick a moment in either the worn down pages of history or our apparently blossoming present. And there is plenty of evidence that we possess the ability to destroy life in all its forms without hesitation but also can celebrate it like there is no tomorrow. Genocides or widespread global corruption, lack of basic human rights for our own kind or the never dying misogyny, the perpetual injustice towards minorities or...oh man, I could go on. Yet, you or I can experience a true sense of happiness or extreme sadness in our disconnected realities concurrently with all that hoo-ha!

How do I reconcile the fact that in this exact moment where I see my wife peacefully lost in her artwork, drawing on our lounge table as calming jazz plays in the background that another man, albeit a stranger, has lost his better half in the urban battlefields of Syria? It’s a daunting prospect if we traded places. From the time it took you to reach this line, kids just like yours have become orphans. Where you feel elated that the office is only a ten-minute drive from the apartment, it took less than ten minutes for a young girl in a war-ravaged zone to be abducted and sold as a sex slave or a hundred odd students to be blown to pieces in their own school. I mean, seriously, what the fuck?

Most of us opt for compassion, others take empathy for a spin and the fewest of all explore taking action. On the contrary, some will legitimately say we have enough of our own problems to worry about. I realized, none of us are explicitly in the wrong here. We are even mature and intelligent enough to rationalize and justify ourselves for our ignorance. Though, at times, I can’t shake the guilt. I simply must give a fuck. Other nights are different. In the blink of an eye, I could not be more uninterested. I am aware that my privilege is oozing out as I write this. So what?! Well, in case you are wondering, I have found a way to balance the atrocities of a dark world and the illuminating hope in humanity! Chill, I’m just joking but wouldn’t it be awesome to be THAT person? But here is a likely tip, I am 99% certain that almost anyone that claims to have the answer is a great salesman!

If we are chasing constant happiness, we will fail. If we avoid risk, we will fail. If the injustices of the world plunge us in to an endless pit of cynicism, we are failing. If our short-lived ecstasy translates to false perceptions of reality then we are flirting with foolishness. Our need for pleasure does not exist in isolation; it cannot be realized without knowing what anguish is. Balance is fundamental; it’s imperative and pretty much the name of the game. I do feel like Dr. Seuss had it figured out. No truer words have been spoken than, “So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act”. I know, it’s anti-climatic that I don’t really have a solution for you. All I can tell you is that nothing lasts forever. And maybe even more importantly, the hustle for balance never ends.

Photo Credit: Areej Shafique