An incurable case of conflict
Q: What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force?
Q: What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force?
A: Cliché.
And true to the clichés, it’s safe to suggest that we are all stuck on the same boat, especially when it’s fast sinking under our cumulative weight of undue expectations. Our actions define us, not the other way around; a home truth we learn very late in life. As kids, we tend to believe that we will get to be something and then do something when in reality, you’ve got to do something first in order to be something later. In this peculiar context, words don’t mean much. What’s done outruns what was said.
If you’ve watched Breaking Bad (2008–13) a while ago, you may not remember every little detail but you must remember Mike Ehrmantraut’s thoughts on half measure. In life, you either go for something or you don’t. There shouldn’t be space left for self-imposed dilemma. Half measures don’t accomplish anything other than unintended regrets and intended mischieves. Easier dialogued than done, right? Almost. It’s only when you get up from your cushy chair and look out of the window that you notice the sunburned souls who have little time to waste on the vagaries of choice. They get shit done. These are the ones who build our roads, bridges, buildings, parks, dams and everything else that you needs to be built over the century.
As for you and me, the privileged lot, blessed by the warmth of the Internet as well as the chill of an air-conditioned room, things should have been much more difficult. Yes, situations do change — from great to worst and vice versa. Our tragedy is not that things can always be worse. Our tragedy is that it isn’t. Yet. On a philosophical level, even a wastrel can claim that his existence has a meaning. What exactly? Privacy issues. He won’t tell you simply because he doesn’t need to. He is not answerable to our criteria or understanding of moral dictionary. Which, again, leaves us stranded on the edge of nowhere.
Despite our endless cries for adding meaning to our lives, we are somehow miles away from achieving this stage of no return. Once you lead a meaningful life, is it even possible to return to meaninglessness? Maybe the answer to this corollary is hidden in the basic fact of life: You can lead a meaningful life only if you are selfless. Noble words like kindness, compassion and empathy don’t turn their backs on those who embrace them. The challenge is how to think out of the box when the box is our skull itself. How can narcissism be defeated in a world filled with mirrors?
Now is a good time to revisit the dilemma mentioned earlier. When you refuse to struggle, you don’t move. You are, for lack of better words, sessile. Granted, you don’t like confrontation? Good for you. But throughout your journey, you’ll end up turning a blind eye to a lot of awful realities which could have been averted had you introduced yourself to your fears properly. A part of you wants to fight and do the right thing but another part of you wants to cower in the corner of comfort. Maybe, during such moments, a part of you call a brain should go for the right button. No half measures, please. Nothing good has ever come out of it. If you’ve joined engineering, complete it. If you’re married, see to it that you give your everything. And the same principle applies to a lot of other areas of human behaviour wherein nobody is there to ask us whether we want to stop because we are afraid of what lies ahead or because we are forced by our habit to avoid a conflict.