racoma.netI love to write. I write to live. I live to love.

Forrest Gump said life was like a box of chocolates, in that you never know what you’re gonna get. But here’s what I think. Even if you never know what you’re gonna get, what’s important is what you do about it.

It’s funny how people tend to be reactive rather than proactive. Sometimes it takes a jarring situation before one could act and move. Sometimes it takes a big wakeup call before you can actually start doing something. You could be physically awake, but in a way, your life is just in cruise-control. You go and do the same thing every morning, and the next thing you know it’s already nighttime and you’re already dozing off.

And then one day it just hits you.

A few weeks back, I encountered a jarring situation myself. And lately I’ve been finding myself doing things I know I should have done a long time ago. Because of life’s cruise-control, I’d forgotten a few things I should’ve taken care of. But with the sudden introduction of an externality, I feel like I had been thrown forward (literally, actually), and now I’m shaking up things, and moving at a faster pace than before.

Yes, I do encounter these externalities every once in a while. Sometimes they’re harsh and hard. Sometimes they’re mind boggling. In the end, some of these come as blessings in disguise. We humans tend to see our own lives in a linear fashion, after all. They say hindsight is 20/20. The future is yet to be seen. And so we focus on the present. I think what would be great if we can learn from the past, plan for the future, and enjoy the present while executing those plans for the future.

When life throws you a curveball, what do you do? Do you treat it as an opportunity, or do you crumble and falter? I think I’d rather rise up to the challenge.

Image credit: flickr/ohadby