Did you know this life secret that no one tells you about?

Gandalf had this piece of life secret to give to the fellowship of the ring,

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

This serves as perfect advice to the fellowship in the Lord of the Rings. The reason for this being that they were on a time-bound mission. Time is usually of very high essence in everyone’s life. In fact, our clocks are already counting down. This sets us up for the actual message of this article.

We’ll get to that in some time. Let’s look at the time defined for us in our lives.

A simple Google search would yield millions of articles about time management. Time management is the number one to skill to get in today’s hectic time. There are many people who even claim to have mastered the art of managing it. People who claim to know the life secret of happiness and satisfaction.

And yet, so many people end up squandering away the time given to them. Yes, creation and nature gave us this time to live out our lives. In the present modern day context, life itself has become fragile. We must be thankful for each living moment of our lives. We end up thinking that the life secret will open itself to us. Usually, people live their life in fear of death. In some cases, people fear discomfort. Some fear the prospect of loss or failure. Some of us do not remain true to our inner being.

Go back to the time when we were children. Schools taught us about what society terms as life secrets. This included competition, rivalry, politics, and intelligence. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) had a higher priority than Emotional Quotient (EQ). All the above are good skills to have but not necessary education. Later on, once we grew up, we applied these skills as if they were natural to us. It’s only in hindsight do we realize the harm it causes. We harm people in many ways. Sometimes in physical and sometimes in an emotional manner. This isn’t restricted to other people, we even end up harming even ourselves.

This built-up pressure, anxiety, and dissatisfaction start to manifest itself in life. This is the point where life takes many different turns. Many events take shape. Some of these are pleasant, a lot of them are unpleasant. These are still very extreme examples of such cases. When choosing between comfort and discomfort, comfort is preferred, but only if there aren’t other consequences to consider.

When I was in graduation hostel, people had different dispositions. Some wanted more salt in the food. Some people got bored with the same food every day. Even today, a lot of people still do complain about food all the time. For me, I am thankful for the food in front of me. For me, the lowest I could have ever gone, on food, was the hostel food. Compared to that, any and all the food looks delicious and palatable. Hence, when we once enter the discomfort zone the journey of life becomes smoother.

The ECG life secret

This is the part where I chanced upon an electrocardiogram (ECG). Being a biology student as well as a movie buff, the ECG has a lot of significance. The ECG is a diagnostic tool used to assess the electrical and muscular functions of the heart.

So, what does an ECG look like? What does it have anything to do with this post? Let’s have a look at an ECG first.

Yes, that’s what an ECG looks like. You must have seen such images several times in movies and advertisements. This is the ECG of a person who is alive. Let’s look at the ECG of a person who is about to die.

 

The waves generated in the ECG start to flatten out. This happens until the moment the waves become a line. These two images reveal an important aspect of human life and a life secret as well.

Whenever we head out for a road trip, we look forward to a smooth trip. The roads must be bump free. The vehicle shouldn’t break down. The road signs must be clear and legible. The weather must be perfect. Yes, these are good conditions to have. Are they realistic? No, not at all.

In real life, this seldom happens. Nothing is ever going to go according to plan. Nature conspires in ways which can lay to waste the best-laid plans.  So, what does this tell us?

The ECG teaches us that our heart beats in a rhythmic pattern. Going up and going down. In fact, any inconsistency in that pattern can lead to disorders, even death. So, this means that creation has handed down the ups and downs to us. It’s a part of our lives. It is the human ego, the intellect and the feeling of domination which forces us into comfort. We end up trying to smooth out all the curves in our lives. Rather than focusing too much at the ends, we should instead look at the means. The process holds a higher significance than the end result. The journey holds much more satisfaction than the destination itself.

As long as your heart is beating, you’re alive.

As long as your charts show waves of ups and downs, you’re alive.

As long as your eyes are on the road ahead, not the horizon, you’re alive.

There will be points when life will feel difficult. There will be times of distress, agony, and grief. It is in those moments when we must realize that life is at play here. It’s not only the beating of our hearts. This is the beating of the heart of creation. This is creation telling us in the ears; not yet. As long as you have a beating heart, keep living. Keep working, smiling, dancing and helping.

The ECG of life isn’t much different from the ECG of our hearts. Count your beats and make those beats count for something in life. This is the life secret of creation.