TIME OF YOUR LIFE!

Rainy afternoon in Mt, Maunganui. Everybody you know is working, Bayfair sounds like a bad idea, walking down the beach even worse, so what to do when boredom strikes? “Dirty Dancing”. And I don´t mean polishing the floor with your belly or spinning around a pole like a fireman, but simply renting a DVD and watching the movie! “Dirty dancing”, a dance not dirty at all, by the way.

I´ve just finished the film and of course the last song is still beating in my head. Patrick Swayze´s muscular body is also pasted in my mind, but the song is what mostly captured my attention. “First dance… First love… The time of your life!”, catchy, profound and inspiring. It makes you want to stand up, shake your hips, jump in the air and do something with your life, doesn´t it? It makes me want to go to the gym too, but let´s just stick to the point.

Having the time of my life… I just wonder how much of reality is there in this statement. I used to feel I was having the time of my life when I was younger. I used to go on holidays, meet people, go dancing; I used to fall in love very easily and very deeply. Nothing disturbed my mind for long because “Daddy” would solve it or Mummy would stroke it away; anyhow, there was no grey cloud in my clear blue sky. Whereas as for now, I just happen to be doubting if that forever HAPPINESS everybody searches for, if that eternal HEAVEN everybody looks forward to, is indeed reachable and sustainable or just a quick moment one goes through in a blink of an eye.

Now, I´m not saying I´m not having a good time nowadays. If I wasn´t having a good time, I would definitely do something to change my situation. I´m just trying to say that as one grows old, so do worries and concerns. Wrinkles don´t just appear because of age. One slowly becomes more aware of how The Matrix functions. The green codes are seen everywhere. You no longer believe that Daddy can save you and you snap out of the certainty that Mummy´s strokes can heal you. You become more conscious of the power you have over yourself and your life. You cannot keep on believing in “La vie en rose” because you have already gone through the mirror and peeped on the other side! Now, isn´t this concerning and beautiful at the same time?

I do desire to maintain that happiness that every now and again I experience. But I just wonder if that is possible or just a phrase characteristic of the Modern Man´s speech: “Work hard and keep on trying that you will reach happiness!” Some people work their hands to the bone, others surf and feel the adrenaline all day long; some just travel around the world, unattached; others act, paint and write. But at the end of the day, after that dose of distraction and happiness, reality strikes like a tax collector, unmercifully and persistently. And don´t confuse my words: I´m saying REALITY and not TRAGEDY.


I´ve reread Siddhartha recently and rediscovered the wisdom flowing in it. He says at the end of his days: “I had to strive for property and experience nausea and the depths of despair in order to learn not to resist them, in order to learn to love the world, and no longer compare it with some kind of desired imaginary world, some imaginary vision of perfection, but to leave it as it is, to love it and to be glad to belong to it”. I do agree with his words: the peace of mind so beseeched can only be gained by ACCEPTING, accepting oneself, accepting the others, and finding a peaceful agreement in between. When Govinda asks Siddhartha: “Give me something to help me on my way, Siddhartha. What helps you to live and do right?”, Siddhartha answers: “Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. IN EVERY TRUE, THE OPPOSITE IS EQUALLY TRUE” …


So, my friends, I guess we´re back in the beginning, just wondering if eternal happiness can be reached. Have you ever had the time of your life? Did you ever meet Patrick Swayze?

(Photos: First one: Tongariro Crossing. 2nd: Natural Rockslide in Gisborne 3rd: IDEM)