THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘LIVING AND EXISTING’

“To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people exist, that is all.” 

Oscar Wilde

Papri Mukhopadhyay

Assistant Professor, Arts and Humanities, English

Email: papri.mukhopadhyay@kalingauniversity.ac.in

The literal meaning of ‘living’ is having a life, and ‘existing’ is something which is present or available at present. ‘Living’ means living a life to the fullest, and it is not merely breathing but breathing and enjoying the fragrance of life. It is all about whatever one has, being content and thankful for what one gets in the next phase of life. It truly matters what one counts in, as life is an amalgamation of ups and downs. To live a fruitful life, getting disconnected from past experiences is essential. If the life has given only lemons one should learn to make lemonade. It is vital to have expectations for the future, which one needs to create while living what is now. ‘Now’ is powerful, and it the master of times. Live in the present, let the past go, and think of the future to have more rainbows.

On the contrary, ‘existing’ means an empty life, and no activity can make one lively. It is suffocating that causes breathlessness. That is, the person is controlled externally, by society or peers by allowing oneself to know what other people think of his specific actions and internally, by fear and ego. One does what is necessary to survive: breathing, sleeping, and eating. It is done with, without passion, interest and enthusiasm. One becomes the slave of own self and is deficient in the true meaning of one’s presence on this planet.

Everyone needs to avoid the false realm that is being created in life. Following others, we may start existing, so it is not to be part of the cat race where life makes one a sheer machine. It is necessary to stand spaced out from the crowd and do the things that satisfy the soul. It gives pleasure to do the things that one loves and desires. It is gruelling to adapt to changes in life from ‘existing’ to ‘living’. Henceforth, to be under the control of life and to live happily,  one must consider what he truly wants because it is difficult to stop thinking of the past and future as anxiety and uncertainties are the realities of everyday life. It is essential to how one perceives a life wherein it is like a glass half filled with water. It is ‘half empty or half full’?. Hence to live, we need to let go of the things that bother us and do the things that make us happy!!.

References

https://spiritvineretreats.com/ayahuasca-blog/living-vs-existing/