Most of us have heard of a bubblegum. Its a sweetmeat that is chewy and comes in various flavours. Often after a great deal of chewing this piece of sweetmeat or candy can be blown into a bubble. Please note that making a bubble is not something that everyone can do well. Some are great at it while others barely manage to. My interest is however not in the bubblegum but in the two words that make it up. Bubble and gum.
Aesthically a bubble is beautiful to look at. A transparent circle which floats in the air and disperses light to form rainbow colours. A bubble can be made using soapy water, from plastic or from certain types of gum. But the biggest challenge of a bubble is that it is very momentary. Before one can get to enjoy it fully, it ceases to exsist. Making a long lasting bubble is quite difficult and the most long lasting of bubbles are the ones made from plastic but they are far from authentic bubbles. Gum on the other hand is not so pretty to look at. Its tenacity is immense and it can last for a whole day, until the person chewing it decides to throw it out. A gum may lose its original taste but it doesnt lose it chewiness. Infact gum can be stretched out quite a bit till it begins to tear.
So why am I talking about bubble and gum? Well it was a conversation that I had with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago that put this seed into my mind and after weeks of thinking about it, I have now decided to express it in words. My friend shared an unpleasant story with me. She told me about the time she lost one of her friends in a car crash and how terrible it was. She told me about how momentary the incident was and how long lasting the impacts have been. She also shared with me how her view of life has changed post that fatal incident. It was then that the thought struck me; life can be looked at and lived as either a bubble or gum!
Those who look at life like a bubble are the ones who appreciate how momentary things are and how quickly they can change. These are the people who live in the present and make the most out of today. They tend to be optimistic as they desire to get the best out of each day. However mostly these people are also the ones who donot like to save, or think too much about ten years from now. Their relationships, jobs and decisions are based more on today.
The gum people, or the ones who consider life to be like gum, look at life as a long journey and possibly prefer to plan and provide for tomorrow. They believe in not taking snap decisions or making reactive investments because they would like to provide for tomorrow. Mostly, their relationships and careers need long term decision making and their ability to live in the present is not so high. Now there is no right or wrong way of looking at life. There is nothing wrong about strtching life out like gum or living in the moment like a bubble. But when a gum person meets a bubble thats is when there are conflicts of interest and view points.
I am more of a gum person. I believe in planning and providing for the future because the thought of momemtariness is a scary one for me. Take a moment and think, are you a bubble or the gum? Whichever one you are remember that whether momentarily or endlessly, it should be a choice you have made cos you are the one who is going to live it through!
Aesthically a bubble is beautiful to look at. A transparent circle which floats in the air and disperses light to form rainbow colours. A bubble can be made using soapy water, from plastic or from certain types of gum. But the biggest challenge of a bubble is that it is very momentary. Before one can get to enjoy it fully, it ceases to exsist. Making a long lasting bubble is quite difficult and the most long lasting of bubbles are the ones made from plastic but they are far from authentic bubbles. Gum on the other hand is not so pretty to look at. Its tenacity is immense and it can last for a whole day, until the person chewing it decides to throw it out. A gum may lose its original taste but it doesnt lose it chewiness. Infact gum can be stretched out quite a bit till it begins to tear.
So why am I talking about bubble and gum? Well it was a conversation that I had with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago that put this seed into my mind and after weeks of thinking about it, I have now decided to express it in words. My friend shared an unpleasant story with me. She told me about the time she lost one of her friends in a car crash and how terrible it was. She told me about how momentary the incident was and how long lasting the impacts have been. She also shared with me how her view of life has changed post that fatal incident. It was then that the thought struck me; life can be looked at and lived as either a bubble or gum!
Those who look at life like a bubble are the ones who appreciate how momentary things are and how quickly they can change. These are the people who live in the present and make the most out of today. They tend to be optimistic as they desire to get the best out of each day. However mostly these people are also the ones who donot like to save, or think too much about ten years from now. Their relationships, jobs and decisions are based more on today.
The gum people, or the ones who consider life to be like gum, look at life as a long journey and possibly prefer to plan and provide for tomorrow. They believe in not taking snap decisions or making reactive investments because they would like to provide for tomorrow. Mostly, their relationships and careers need long term decision making and their ability to live in the present is not so high. Now there is no right or wrong way of looking at life. There is nothing wrong about strtching life out like gum or living in the moment like a bubble. But when a gum person meets a bubble thats is when there are conflicts of interest and view points.
I am more of a gum person. I believe in planning and providing for the future because the thought of momemtariness is a scary one for me. Take a moment and think, are you a bubble or the gum? Whichever one you are remember that whether momentarily or endlessly, it should be a choice you have made cos you are the one who is going to live it through!
