Editing the Sponge

My dear colleague at work, Omar, asked me, “What is your life about? What do you want your tombstone to read?”

I completely froze at first. He caught me off guard and I felt cornered but he was persistant and wouldn’t let me go without an answer.

I thought about all the different things that I aspire to accomplish in life. Instead of asking myself why I want to accomplish them in order to prioritize my list, I asked myself how I want to do that. I came to a conclusion.

Perspective. Whatever message I want to get across to people, whatever story I want to tell, whichever initiative I want to start, I know that the way I can do it best is through presenting it with a different perspective. Changing perspective allows you to see a lot more, not necessarily in content, but in depth and terms of understanding as well.

I want my tombstone to read: “Ohoud Saad. The one who showed us perspective.”

What about yours?

Take Karma for example, poor thing has been called all kinds of names, most popularly ‘bitch’. For Karma believers out there, and for non-believers just bare with me for the point I’ll attempt to make, for the notion and not necessarily this specific cause; humans, hear me out.

Some people fear harming others or committing wrong deeds just so Karma wouldn’t come around to bite them in the ass. Right? Well, how about you try being selfish for a change? Selfish, you ask? Yes. It can be good for you. No, really.

Why doesn’t anyone ever try doing something good so that Karma would come back around and pat them on the back? Reward them, if you will. Or has Karma been irrevocably stigmatized as a bitch in your head, you don’t think she’s capable of doing that? What goes around comes around no? Initiate what goes around as something good, something positive and believe that what’ll come around is something of equal value and grace.

If you don’t want to do something positive for no reason, hey, I won’t blame or judge you, I’ll just ask you to do it for the reciprocation. Do it with the very intent to be rewarded. Do it as a seed you’re planting to eventually get to enjoy the fruits. Don’t fear Karma, reach out to her. After all, Karma will come around eventually to…

Well, you get to decide that. And the beautiful thing? Think about how often and where you can implement this concept. Countless times in countless occasions.

Perspective. It all comes down to perspective.

If someone accidentally shuts a door on your finger, deeming the pain unbearable, you’ll quickly open the door to release your finger and put an end to the pain. That sounds fairly reasonable and common. Your finger is your own and you can feel anything that happens to it. The door is an object with several benefits and a proper function. The act of it being shut on your finger is unpleasant and undesirable. A problem occurred and you knew what was causing it and you devised the solution for it and thus you opened the door. The pain will linger for a while but you’re certain that eventually, inevitably, it will subside. You wouldn’t just keep your finger stuck and be deluged with the pain. It’s invidious and displeasing, remember?

Then why is it that sometimes, when you’re in pain and you know what or who is causing it, you don’t attempt to free yourself and diminish the pain? You don’t enjoy it. It hurts. You know what’s causing it. Why can’t you let yourself off the hook? Why don’t you let go? Why don’t you open the door? Why are you holding on?

Why not?

We always put ourselves in hypothetical situations. Situations, we haven’t encountered yet. Supposedly knowing ourselves, our mindsets, our souls, we assume how we’re going to behave. We start playing scenarios in our heads, certain of their validity, as certain as we are of our own names.

Little do we know that some of these hypothetical situations become real. Very viable and probable, I must say. All of a sudden, we’re tested. Do we behave as we thought we would? Do we know ourselves, our mindsets, our souls as we presumed? We could be surprised. Could we possibly truly know ourselves inside out. Strangely improbable and doubtful.

In all likelihood, it’ll almost be like someone just broke a stereotype, one you believed as you would believe a fact, in front of your very own eyes. Only you’re the one who breaks it. You’re the one who shocks you. You’re the one who ruins your potential scenarios. Chances are, in a very negative way.

You evolve. You change. You move on. You’re supposed to move on.

But can you?

A Pigeon. One might envy a pigeon. I don’t know a pigeon’s goals but I know it flies. I feel that it’s free. I think that it’s not confined to the walls of a room, the buildings of a street or the borders of a country. It doesn’t experience evil; it’s indifferent about good. It’s not materialistic. It’s not arrogant. It’s not classist, sexist, or racist. It’s a simple existential being with no rules, norms or clichés to restrict.

A Human. One might envy a human. A rightfully sentient being with the ability to fight for his/her rights. Not confined to the sky and the clouds. Peacefully walks about the Earth, and travel across the skies. Experiences good and evil and chooses right from wrong. Gracefully exists individualistically. Has thousands of opportunities to take, and viable trials and errors to commit. Can follow and can also lead.

Perspective.