Reality Check Column: This Life
By Iman Tabbara Alayli, Staff Writer

Beirut, Lebanon - I believe in the goodness in people
I believe that tomorrow is a better day
I believe in love, in happiness, in hope
I believe that I should have been born in the sixties.

The list is endless.
Then I wake up and the day passes by like a flash
It s a hectic day, I try to manage between this and that, I run from here to there,  meet people left and right.

When my day ends, I take a minute to recapture all the events of that day.
Only then do I realize a groundbreaking fact.
I have accomplished nothing truly fulfilling.
Isn’t it ironic? You start your day with beliefs and plans, and you end it with a headache and sore feet!!!

Relax!
I did not change; I still have the same beliefs and dreams.  I am just too tired and too shackled by mundane routines to break loose and live them.

Unfortunately, this is life.
It is as if I am in a constant tug of war between myself and what I aspire to be.
It is the eternal fight between substance and essence, the struggle between body and soul.
This is life. It is what happens when you are busy making plans.

Is this unfair? Not really!
Life is fair by being unfair to all.
However, I do not get destabilized or depressed as a result.
Life has always been like that. It just took me some time to realize it.
So I embrace my newfound realization and live the rest of it to the fullest.
It is certainly worth every minute of it.

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