I met up with a friend of mine during the weekend. I have not seen her since we graduated from university. During our conversation, she blurted out, "I've sold my soul to the devil." I asked, "What do you mean?" She replied, "Since I started working I found it hard to keep to my vegetarian diet and I went back to eating some meat again. I'm progressing so well with my career that all I do now is working day and night. I know my colleagues better than I know my family and most of all I'm unhappy and I don't like myself. But I'm doing this for a few more years and I'm out of here." My heart goes out to her after hearing her story for she has to battle each day with her so-called-devil and her conscience.
When we lose our principles and values that we hold so dearly in life, it feels as if "we sold our soul to the devil" and yet it is a conscious decision we make. Once we strike a deal with "the devil" - it takes a lot of courage and clarity of mind to back out from the deal.
I'm not willing to sacrifice my happiness over a few more papers and bricks and yet I can't choose to ignore the fact I have a family to look after and stomachs to feed. The key is to learn the art of balancing our outer life with our inner life. There are many clips of moments in our lives for taking time out (while waiting for the bus / train, in the bathroom, waiting for the computer to boot up, washing the dishes but we choose to fill the gaps with our ipods and tv...) - touching base with what is real inside and true for us is essential in creating the space for us to not get caught up with routines or the rat race...
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