We are only human

We live in a world full of tension, terrorism, trauma and inflation. To top that, we seem to have turned into a nation of the living dead. There is a constant rat race that most of us are a part of. Men and women work all the time, as well as kids, in permanent prison cells, also known as schools.

You wake up in the morning, brush your teeth, get ready for work or get your kids ready for school, eat breakfast, start your day and follow the same routine, day in and day out. Some days, you pause in front of the mirror and look for the kid that seems buried deep inside you. You spot a wrinkle or a white hair and think, ‘Is this it? Is this really the only life I will live?’ We are all stuck in a rut — adults and children alike. Everything is scheduled and this is most depressing.

The idea for writing this piece was triggered by a conversation with my friend, who was complaining bitterly about how everything she did was done according to a schedule. Even her ‘romantic time’ with her husband was scheduled for Saturday nights after the kids went to sleep.

When I thought about my own life, I was disappointed to discover that even I was stuck in a similar situation. Wake up in the morning at 6am. Cuddle with my son for 15 minutes before showering and heading off to work. After a full day of work, coming home to review Hamza’s homework and putting him to bed. Then finally, hanging out with my husband, usually to watch an episode of a series or a movie. Bedtime at 10pm. Yuck!

I started calling a few more people to ask what their daily lives were like. I was secretly hoping that at least few people would say that each day was different from the next; that they couldn’t tell me what their ‘routine’ is. But alas! No such luck.

Why do we push ourselves beyond the limits of our patience and strength? Is it the desire to constantly achieve more? Or has everything and everyone become super competitive? Whatever has brought us to this point, the end result is that we have all become self-destructive in some way or form.

The school bags our children carry are so heavy that even an adult can barely carry them. When I went to complain to my son’s school about this, they simply told me that there are trolley bags available so he doesn’t have to carry all that weight. For God’s sake, it’s not the physical weight but the mental exhaustion that children experience that worries me. What happened to having a fun childhood and being carefree? Between school, tuition, structured sports and scheduled play times, our children now have no time to actually be kids.

Life is supposed to be lived to the fullest, as if each day might be our last. It is crucial to take time out to just relax and put up our feet. No matter how meticulously we plan out our future, things have a way of working out in their own way. I am not saying don’t try or don’t plan. Just live a little. Take a break. Love yourself and others. It takes courage to opt for change. But without changes, life becomes stagnant. We don’t die. But we do lose that kid that lives inside all of us.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2014.

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