The Life Example
Do you like shopping? I bet you do. Imagine that you have been hired as a SHOPPER. I mean all you have to do for the whole shift is shop. So, early in the morning, someone comes and picks you up in a nice comfortable car and takes you to a high- class shopping mall. He drops you at the entrance gate and promises to pick you up at the exit gate at sunset. Of course, you are allowed to enjoy yourself as you carry out your duties. However, you must buy what you are asked; everything on the supplied shopping list. In other words, enjoying yourself should not take your attention away from doing your TASK, which is buying what you are asked not just what you DESIRE. Fortunately, the task is an easy one and the list is not long.
The mall you are taken to happens to be the best mall ever. You have never seen anything like it before. It is decorated to perfection. The entrance gate itself is huge and is made of glass that is so crystal clear that you can see the inside from outside. You are so amazed at the magnificence of the gate that you stay a long time gazing at it. You have actually almost forgotten that you have a job to do. All of a sudden, a deafening noise gets you startled out. You give a big sigh of relief; relief that you have been lucky enough to be reminded of your job before it is too late. You have a long shift, and you still have plenty of time to carry out the mission for which you have been hired. After all, it wouldn’t be smart to work the whole day and still do a lousy job and as a result be reprimanded or even laid off.
You impatiently wait at the gate. Finally, you are recognized by the security officers. After being reminded of the working hours, you are granted entrance. You are surprised that the working hours show an exact starting hour, but do not include a specific closing hour. That in itself alarms you, but then you decide it doesn’t really matter since you have the whole day. Poor you, you have forgotten an important fact; while the day can be long it can also end anytime. To your bad luck or should I say to your good luck, the inside of the mall just seems much more colorful and attractive than the outside. Lights, sounding water fountains, beautiful paintings, attractive people, and the fragrant smell of air fresheners. Nothing is like what you have experienced before.
You still know that you have a job to do; shopping and making sure you buy the best of the best to ensure payment. You freeze for a short moment, then whisper to yourself, ‘I still have plenty of time anyway, so let me enjoy the scenes.’ You make the decision not knowing that looking around could actually take much time, or maybe all the time! Finally, you decide to keep looking around after convincing yourself that you can’t buy quality merchandise unless you look around. It’s not really YOU talking to YOU; it is really a whisper that you hear in your ears.
Now, the mall has everything that you dream of owning: cars, clothes, food, electronics, I mean everything. Everything looks so organized and neat. You keep gazing and gazing. Your cart is still empty, but you still convince yourself that there is still plenty of time. What you keep forgetting is that time really goes fast. As you are in the middle of your journey, you hear something that makes you hate everything you have been enjoying. Suddenly, all looks gloomy and ugly. Has anything changed or is it just you? ‘The mall will be closing in FIVE minutes, says the announcer. ‘The mall will be closing in FIVE minutes,’ says the announcer again. You look at your cart, it’s empty. You remember that you have a job to do. You listen to the announcer again, trying to persuade yourself that the announcer means the mall will open again in five minutes. Soon, you realize that you are wrong. The mall really closes in five minutes. In fact, it’s not five minutes anymore! Remember! You have spent five minutes thinking whether the announcer has really said five minutes. You head for the ‘Exit Gate’ which is not so much attractive anymore; you really don’t care anymore for there is no time for enjoyment. The man who has dropped you is now waiting for you expecting a full cart from YOU. What will you tell him? You have many questions to answer. I mean the type of questions that you have no answers for.
Now, all the lights that have amazed you NOT too long ago are all starting to turn off. No! Not really, they’re going out. I mean they will never turn on again, at least for YOU. The place that has been so full of light is now darkening leaving you with no light at all. The same ‘YOU’ who has been telling ‘YOU’: ‘you still have time, you can still look around’ is now hammering you with ‘if-only statements:’ ‘ If only I had filled my cart first then looked around, if only I had remembered that time really goes fast, If only I had remembered that the years are made of months, the months of days, the days of hours, the hours of minutes, the minutes of seconds, and the seconds of eye blinks and heart beats that are about to stop.’
Suddenly, you realize that ‘if only’ changes nothing. The mall is closed; I mean nobody can go in from the ‘EXIT Gate’, and the cart is empty. Besides, you have to go back to where you came from! The man is waiting for you. Actually, he is the type of MAN who doesn’t wait at all. The moment he sees you, he looks at your empty cart. You get even more scared, but your feelings are not important any more for life is not about your feelings. The man snatches you and throws you in the back seat because workers with empty carts aren’t allowed in the front at all. The back seat is so dark. You fight to get out, you beg, you ask for a second chance, but the answer is ‘too late’ for the clock only moves forward but never backward. You can see and hear everyone and everything outside; however, the car is so dark and made of stone-like metal that nobody can see you nor hear you.
You finally realize that you can’t get out. You wonder if you’re going to be paid. But then you whisper to yourself ‘you sound really silly! Remember only people who shop get paid,’ still, you go ahead and ask the man anyway: ‘Are we paid?’ The man replies: ‘WE? Who ‘WE’? It’s just ‘YOU.’ Then, you ask again: ‘Am I paid for this? The man replies: ‘Yes you will be paid.’ You’ve almost misunderstood the man, but then you quickly realize that punishment is also a payment; and a fair one too.
You continue to look through the dark, tinted windows. Nothing looks as bright as it did on your way to the mall. Actually, you realize that it’s a different world like nothing you have seen before. Soon, the real thing will start. I mean the punishment; the fair punishment. For just those with full carts are rewarded; those with empty ones are punished.
Now take a deep breath! Fortunately, this is just a scenario; however, one that can really come true. The mall is still open, the cart is still yours, and the time is yours too. NOW, the Decision is yours. It is YOU who controls YOU! It is YOU who drives YOU! Buy what you should; not what you DESIRE, otherwise what you don’t desire will happen.You know what I mean, right?!
