Waiting for life to begin

Someone once told me that he’s constantly waiting for life to begin. And that he’s afraid his life will be over before it really began. What exactly was the ‘life’ he was waiting for? I’m not sure. I don’t think he knew either. And that’s something we can all probably relate to. 

We’ve all thought, maybe when I graduate and get a real job, then I’ll be able to reach my life goals. Maybe when I’m fit and strong, then I’ll be happy. Maybe when I’ve moved out, then I can really enjoy my life. Maybe when I meet someone, then I’ll be complete. Maybe when I earn enough, I can go live my dream. Maybe when my children/grandchildren are happy, then I can die peacefully. 

But what is happening whilst you’re waiting for your life to begin? Is that not life either? Is life just a relentless chase with all too many checkpoints and never a finish line? Sometimes I feel like I’m constantly running towards some sort of goal and after sweating and slaving away, I finally reach it only to feel empty and needing to fill that void once again. By chasing after the next big thing. By starting my next project. Is that the only way to avoid such existential crisis? Because really, the question we all want to ask is, what the hell are we all doing here? 

Is the point of life to be born, go through school, reach puberty, go through more school, go through a string of jobs, hopefully have some sort of career, and even more hopefully have some sort of family, age gracefully and then die? Surely that cannot be why the seven billion of us are here right now? 

So, life is now. Even though I’m not exactly sure what that even means, it’s still better than waiting for some other life to begin. Maybe life is exactly what it is. Maybe there’s nothing else. And maybe the beauty of life is that we all are given a lifetime to find out exactly what life is about.

Good luck

xx jimmy