Lessons I Learnt From Traveling Alone

Recently on my travel alone, I got thinking about what life meant to me and what I learned during all the times I have been out alone. One thing that was common was how wrong the notion of life being too short was.

In the very first episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Monica gives Rachel a piece of very honest and simple advice about real life, “Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You’re going to love it.”

We keep ourselves so busy complaining and cribbing about these little issues that we have almost forgotten to appreciate the other beautiful things we are surrounded with. We have forgotten to notice how we have been blessed with the qualities that make us different and unique from others. 

We are always whining about how short our lives are. We are always racing towards things, meeting deadlines and making important decisions. No! Life isn’t all that short. You may think you could probably get hit by a bus, or how things may simply change the very next moment. Yes, life is unpredictable. But it isn’t short. 

Life is short when you waste your time doing things the society wants you to do, working according to a monotonous routine. Life is short when you compromise on your dreams. Life is too short to hold grudges against someone. Life is short when you let the same problem make you miserable for years. Life is short when you let go of opportunities. In this age of exhaustion, we wake up tired, we wake up to check our phones, we fight about sports teams, and we care too less about each other. We cry about bad days, while all along it was just those 5 minutes we milked all day. Life is short for those who mainly exist, but don’t live, who breathe but don’t feel the air around them. 

Life is not short if you are living every second. You feel every minute of your life if you decide to kill off the negative person existing inside you. You will truly live when you let yourself grow from your mistakes and move on. 

If you lie back on your rooftop and watch stars and relax, you will realize life was never short; you’ve spent a long, long time on this planet. You’ve gone through many storms and lived. You’ve laughed liked your stomach is about to burst open and you’ve lived. You’ve been angry, apologized, and you’ve lived. You’ve had moments when you thought you could die, but you lived. You’ve lived and you will live. 

You have to stop being ignorant and realize every moment you spend, realize every action, every emotion, every relationship, everything that makes you feel. Stop marking your death day. You have enough time to love, travel, eat, enjoy, sleep and live. 

It’s too long. Realize that. Live long.