Multiplicity of Life

By Obanla Mariam

Life is a term that defies all meaning, you know, it’s just like walking up to a child and asking for the meaning of life, or asking a teenager what life is all about or asking a man on his way to the office the definition of life, or asking a woman on her way to the grave to visit her deceased offspring what she thinks about life.

These set of people will give you various definitions and views on life. They will obviously give you different opinions. This will also give you an insight on how life is.

Life is just like a Rubik Cube.

Imagine a group of 4 kids sit around the sides of a multi colored cube, the side each kid faces is what he or she use to describe the whole cube. The colors, the pattern, the design, the orderliness or disorderliness of each side is said to be the representative of the cube to each child.

Such similitude is said to occur in each definition of life of the various age group above; the child sees life as a milk and honey phenomena, the teenager sees life as a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings, the man sees life as a place where survival instincts are sharpened and utilized competitively while the woman sees life as a bitter-sweet experience.

Such opinions tend to cloud the other person's views of life. Reality, at times, is a wake-up call to all the fantasies we feed our minds. Just imagine the way the child will see life if he is abandoned on the streets, if the teenager is given an expulsion letter, or when the man is given a promotion at the place of work, or the lady is told she's expecting a baby soon. Their views on life will change.

Matters of life ought to change our views of life, people, religion, culture and beliefs. We shouldn't be myopic in our opinions on matters; we should be willing to adapt, tolerate and settle our differences and always see life from another point of view.