living life like a cd player

ever wondered how living life can be so similar to a cassette/cd player? it gives you the essential directions on how to live life. there’s really nothing new about it, as i previously pointed out in one of my entries – “realization” is just a term we use to describe ourselves as being reminded of the things we already know. this is just a reiteration of what most of us probably already know, but tend to forget oftentimes.
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“play”. there’s no music unless you press “play”. living life is like playing a cd. each one plays a different kind of tune. some like it sad. some like it happy. some like it fast. some like slow. some like loud. some like it mellow. but they all have one thing in common –they won’t start unless you press “play” (unless perhaps the cd player has an autoplay feature, but that’s besides the point). to some extent life isn’t continuous. it stops when you choose to stop for whatever reason. it stops when you spend it thinking of things that really don’t matter. it’s not life when you just sit around doing nothing. it’s not life when you wait for someone to live it for you. life is not life unless you actually live it. choosing what kind of life to live, however, is another story.
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“pause”. you can always hit the “pause” button. there will be times when you need to take a break from all the hassles brought by a fast-paced get-go. it’s not all about work, deadlines, reports, meetings, transactions, and overtime. take time to rest. stop for a while and smell the flowers, as some weird person said. after all, you do all these things to have a means to live your life. I remember one horoscope message over at friendster saying that “work is an integral part of your life, with emphasis on the words ‘integral part’”. It couldn’t be more correct. so go take a look outside your office window and see the cityscape, go out for a walk in the park, grab a cup of coffee and have a little chat with an old friend about the small and simple stuff, draw if you can, sing your lungs out, dance ‘til your legs hurt, watch a movie or a concert performance, go sound tripping over at your local music store, or just take a nap. it’ll make all the difference in the things you do.
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“rewind”. sometimes, we hit “rewind” (or “previous”) to go back to the songs we like, or to understand what the lyrics are saying. looking back at past events would make us realize a lot of things – may it be good or bad. its always nice to sit beside the window, looking outside on a rainy day with a cup of hot chocolate and good soothing music in the background while you remember the good old days – arguing over how many sides does an old 2-peso coin has, walking around campus at noon, getting even with terror teachers, taking lunch on recess time, playing basketball after school, stargazing on summer night outs, college days filled with tambay moments and sleepless nights due to paper deadlines, out of town trips, overnight gimmicks, simple get-togethers, and drinking sprees. and then you’ll have a sense of appreciation of the life you have, and the people who’ve touched you and whom you’ve touched one way or another (no pun intended. hehe). there’s also some good in remembering the aches and pains brought by a rough childhood, by failed relationships, by damaged friendships, by circumstances that didn’t go as expected, by missed opportunities, and by the people God has sent to test you. if the goal is to see what lessons can be learned from them, remembering such events will give you a sense of who you were, who you are and a chance to redefine yourself.
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“fast forward”. hit “fast forward” (or “next”) if you must. living life at present doesn’t necessarily mean thinking only of today. this is often a misconception to some. living at present doesn’t and shouldn’t make us forget planning our future. living at present only reminds us not to think too much about the future. putting a song in fast forward wouldn’t sound very pleasant, would it? not to mention possible damage to the cd. look ahead, but not too far ahead. how far ahead? only you can answer that. you can plan on taking a masters degree at age 23, finishing it at age 25, going abroad to either work or study at few months after, having a car of your own at age 27, live with your wife in your own house and lot at age 30, and start a business so you won’t have t go back to whatever foreign country you chose to forsake yourself for a couple of years. you can do that, but you can do it while you hang out with friends, maybe score a few strikes at bowling, sweat your shirts off from badminton, take on a silly bet in a billiards game, go get sunburns during summer, grab a few bites to eat with family, watch a movie, or do something you’ve never done before in your entire life. If you tend to forget living your life at present, it could be a sign of being too far off. go hit the “pause” button.
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“stop”. if you don’t like what you’re hearing, “stop”. that’s what free will is for – for us to choose what is right and good. if you have paused and assessed the past events in your life, and eventually came to the conclusion that you’re headed towards self-destruction, you can always stop. helpless? i don’t think so. got no choice? that’s bullshit. things can and will end when you want it to. all you need is faith in yourself that you’re doing the right thing, no matter how difficult it may seem. call it cynical and selfish to some extent, but you can’t help anyone else if you can’t help yourself, and you can’t help yourself if you don’t want to. sure, there things beyond our control, things we can do nothing about, but they consist only about 10% of everything in our lives. for the rest, especially the mistakes we’ve made, or making, have the courage to admit your mistakes, and do something about it. errors are made, but they can be corrected. one way is to, well, stop.

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quite vague and lousy for an analogy. shallow? perhaps. but it’s merely a reminder, to me at least, to keep living life, pause every once in a while to reflect, rewind to look back, fast forward to look ahead, and stop when things are going the wrong way.

p.s. forgive me if I sounded like a preacher. ;p