You come into this world as a child and you leave the world as a child

I was about to give this article the title, “Sometimes you come into the world with wrinkles and often you leave the world with wrinkles.” (Smiling) Okay, right… where was I?

When you come into this world you can’t feed yourself, speak, walk, talk, jump, dress and someone even puts you off to sleep. Slowly you follow commands, you see everyone else doing things a certain way, you start walking, start talking, start running, then you go to school and start learning how to think, write, learn bad habits from other kids, learn good habits from other kids, etc.

What are children’s natural habits? You probably ask why do most of them get up so early whether they went to bed late or not. They eat little and have loads of energy that you have to force them to eat. They fiddle a lot and every small thing determines their smile or sad face. Petty things often affect them. They don’t know the difference between a cheap dress and an expensive dress. They don’t care what their parents put on them. It doesn’t take a lot to get them to smile. Does this bring back memories?

At every phase of you growing up, you are learning something new even as you continue to move to the next grade. You meet a girl, learn how to communicate. Perhaps you get it right with your high school sweetheart or perhaps you both haven’t done things correctly but you’ve both walked away learning something. You develop skills i.e. become confident, sociable, determined, motivated, strong, intuitive, courageous etc. through experiences. The more you get older the more you feel like superman i.e. you can take on the world…

You’re young, your whole life ahead of you. You don’t expect it to end anytime soon right? As soon as you finish your studies you perhaps desire that newest BMW, that awesome dream mansion, go travelling, perhaps you want to learn how to surf or learn how to ski. You say, “Why settle down so early? Live and enjoy life while I’m young.” You find later on you want to settle down, have kids, buy a house, get a stable job. You say goodbye to the carefree life you once had. Others might just settle down early in life because they feel like they want to.

All your life you have someone you live for, love, and do your best for i.e. your life, your family, the education for your kids, savings to help them buy a house, money for important stepping stones in their lives etc. You love so strong that quitting isn’t an option. You have energy, stamina, strength, tolerance, motivation etc. and one day you feel anxiety, get tired quickly, feel too hot, eat less than before, and wake up really early. You try to be strong for the grandkids too, but it catches up with you i.e. you can no longer run after them while they’re playing. You run out of breath and take lots of breaks while looking after them for a day or even for a couple of hours.   

 

Now the doctor tells you that you have cholesterol, or the optometrist says your eyesight is getting weak. As you get old you get worried and wonder about death, feel tired a lot, you need help from your kids, perhaps you get a walking stick, you have difficulty putting on your clothes, you don’t feel like brushing your teeth, dressing or shaving anymore. You live life simple and don’t put importance on having the latest mobile phone. You want what’s simple even if it’s old. You trip a lot, can’t remember somethings and petty things start affecting you. You are less patient and just want to go home and be comfortable in front of the TV on your couch. You become quiet, get more wrinkles, and have more rest.  A baby needs sleep and rest to grow and an old person needs sleep and rest for more energy. It is the simplest things that make you smile. Some people end up in a hospital and die there the same environment they were born in.

You come out of the womb and are often welcomed into the world with a smile. You’re placed on a soft blanket, washed, and someone puts clothes on for you and when you die it’s someone who washes you, puts on clothes for you, is sad and says goodbye.

T. Dench Patel

P.S. My father spent 5 minutes one day talking to me about this topic when I was a teenager. When I went travelling, I thought about this conversation a lot, hence why today I could deliver this article.

To you dad! See I still remember this conversation.

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