A Time of Smaller Pictures

With the distant future looking dimmer each day, a much better option seems to be looking at what is within your arm’s reach. The larger scheme of cause and action shakes uncontrollably under the present pandemic. We have all been waiting and whining to go back out again and carry on with our plans for trips, studying abroad, exchange programs, internships, and whatnot. How about looking at what we have inside the four walls of our rooms? The smaller things are often overlooked and it is only when we have no more time at hand that we regret how we never noticed them.

1) Slow Down
We are so conditioned to rushing from place to place, task to task that we are being forced to jump from feeling to feeling too. We are never going to get back memories we have already made. We cannot change how the events unfolded. As young people who are living in a fast-paced world, it is imperative that you pause to click mental pictures of every good and bad day you have. Memory is a tricky thing. The more you get used to shifting from one thing to another, the more chances you have of being used to not pausing for absorbing anything. Consequently, you will have lesser long term retention than someone who took a good time to fully absorb everything around him.
Slowing down also keeps you more content with what you have achieved during the day. Taking ample time on any task guarantees a much better result too. This is not to say that you should waste more time than the required time on things. Just give everything the time it requires rather than rushing to something else.

2) The Importance of Detail
To focus on detail and deliver is the sign of someone who is guaranteed to have good results in whatever he does. It’s often said that someone who is partially informed is to be feared more than an ignorant fool. There can be nothing better that can explain this than this saying. Someone who works on the face value is digging his/her own grave. They will never see it coming when someone decides to question them and they will have unsatisfactory answers.
Focus on whatever you do, wherever you are put, and whoever you are interacting with. Take the time out to do simple things, like go for a walk at night, watch the sunset with a friend, bake on a Sunday for nobody but yourself, focus on learning the quirks of a person you misjudged, cook your meals, visit your parents, call your sibling, see what you love. These are the things that will matter even when you get a job at a top company or look back when you are old. Take one day at a time. You only live once.

3) The Curse of Mortality
What we all must remind ourselves is the simple truths of life. And one of those is that ultimately we are all but dust and must return to be dust. Nobody has a way out of this. No millionaire and no beggar. No Captain America is sleeping in the ice for 70 years to come back into a world far ahead of his time. We are all just a minuscule part of the so-called Big Picture. So why not make the most of our time here? You came with a scream. Why not leave with a bang? Make every little thing count. Every day, every person you ever talked to, every place you have ever been and life will seem worth all of it when you finally have to leave.

So, don’t be scared about seeing a blurry future at the moment. Learn to take one day at a time and live without regrets. You will have only things to smile about in the long run.