The beauty of life lies in its uncertainty
The earth, the moon and the sun would not have been so beautiful if there was no life on earth. To this day, despite intense scientific explorations, there is no other place in this universe where life exists, at least in the form in which it exists on this blue planet.
In the historical perspective of our earth, perhaps the greatest milestone stands 3.7 billion years back when the first primitive molecules chanced to interact with themselves, creating a self replicating structure which was the beginning of life. Our minds are not tuned to fathom the eons which might have passed while the earliest lifeless molecules created almost infinite combinations before life could originate in the form of a nucleic acid molecule.
The sheer time frame of history of life on earth is mind boggling. We, as humans, have a lifespan of around 80 years which is so tiny a fraction to the time scale of life that even an effort to understand the enormity would lead to mental chaos. If the history of life can be depicted by a 100-kilometrelong road then humans have a lifespan of only 2 millimetre!
While scientists still grapple with the events which might have happened leading to the origin of life, the only thing which can be said with a fair amount of certainty is that the process was highly uncertain. Paradoxically, even after 3.7 billion years, with evolutionary forces creating a huge kaleidoscope of diverse life forms, life has retained its basic instinct. It remains highly uncertain!!
Current biological knowledge prides itself in understanding the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and psychology of living creatures.
The molecular events which act in concert to maintain the approximately 40 trillion cells in our body making us living creatures are extremely organised and act with great fidelity.
Thus, in the backdrop of highly organised life structure of all living organisms, why is life so uncertain in its lifespan? Would life have been better if there was no uncertainty associated with its course? This situation would have made it easier to predict the future course of events in one’s life. However, choosing a path of one’s own life without the fear of failure or going astray would have created a situation of eating your favourite food three times a day all the year.
The beauty of life lies in the twists and turns that it offers from childhood to old age. The sense of achievement when a goal is fulfilled is a feeling which brings immense joy. The joys, sorrows, expectations, aspirations, fears and surprises lie in this labyrinth of glorious uncertainties. All of these combine to make life such a beautiful experience.
The beauty of the essence of life’s challenges has been very aptly described by the famous Urdu poet Asghar Gondwi
Chala jaata hun hansta khelta mauj-e-havadis se
Agar aasaniyan hon zindagi dushwar ho jaa-e
It is indeed a sad feeling when humans do not value this immensely unique natural gift which we define as ‘life’. After all, we live only once. Life in itself offers us a huge array of pleasant moments and difficult times. It sometimes throws challenges which are unforeseen and seemingly difficult. Indeed, there is absolutely no justification for man-made events such as violence, war, hatred, and malice.