5 Reminders from 5 Evenings of Sunset
Nature never ceases to amaze us.
We as a human are a part of nature, therefore, there’s always something we can learn from it.
Here are my five reflections from five evenings of witnessing the sunset in Western Australia.
1. Why are we in such a hurry?
In a world that is obsessed with speed, and constantly demands our attention and time, how often do we get an opportunity to slow down?
Even if we choose to do things slowly, there are still expectations from others to catch up.
“Could you walk faster?”
“Could you eat faster?”
“Could you drive any slower?”
We’ve gotta go go go!
I remembered watching the movie ‘Click’ starring Adam Sandler.
In the movie, his character is given a remote that gives him the ability to control his life as if it’s being shown on TV.
*Spoiler Alert* And one of the things he did repeatedly is fast-forwarding. He skipped the moments that he wasn’t fond of to get to the exciting moments or important milestones when he was happiest.
It took him until he arrived at old age with sickness and a weaker body that he missed most of his kids’ childhood. He missed the fights with his wife, including their divorce. By the time he realised how much time he had let go, there was not much left on his candle.
Life is a journey, not a destination. Life is here and now, not the next five years when we graduate, get married or have kids.
Most people always look forward to the weekend when the majority of life is here and now.
How often and why are we in the rush to move on to the next thing and what are we in the rush to?
2. How many things have we taken for granted?
One of the Westerners told me that they didn’t realise that visitors from all around the world don’t get to see the sun setting above the water in their hometown as they do.
This is truly a valuable reminder. How many things in life have we taken for granted?
How many things do we get to have, while others may not?
How lucky are we to have our loved ones, a fully functional body or even a place to sleep at night?
It truly is a blessing if we just take some time to appreciate things.
3. Be prepared for the inevitable
The further the sun goes down, the faster it seems to be moving.
As soon as it touches the surface, it won’t get back up. It continuously goes down, and down, and down, until it disappears and the sky becomes darker and darker.
We can dance, we can pray but the sun isn’t going to come back up again the same way it went down.
Such a great reminder for life on how things will come and go, and sometimes we don’t really have control over it.
As you kiss your son good night, says Epictetus, whisper to yourself, “He may be dead in the morning.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditation.
No parent wants to imagine bad things to happen to their child. But this is not just a negative mindset. It’s a technique called ‘negative visualisation’ that the Stoics use to remind and prepare them for what could happen.
Yes, it is sad. Yes, it is dark. In this day and age, some of us live in a bubble where we choose to avoid the uncomfortable truth, but the rules of nature still haven’t changed.
We don’t own anything in this world. We don’t truly own the land we bought, our children, our friends or anyone else. They belong to nature and have the right to come and go. Some may stick around and some won’t.
The only control we have in this world is the freedom to change our mind and perspective.
The sooner we accept it, the easier it becomes when it’s time to let go.
4. Cherish the present moment
In saying that, we can’t always think about what’s going to happen in the future.
We still truly need to appreciate the present moment while it’s still here.
As someone who spends a lot of time in front of digital devices, I certainly could not appreciate the non-screen time more.
It fascinates me how some people can’t sit still without looking at their phone. They’re always looking for stimulants to get that dopamine hit.
When we’re with someone, do we need really to pay attention to what’s going on on the device when a real human being is right in front of us?
Again, we don’t really know if this will be the last time we see someone or not, so is looking at the screen more important than presently being with them?
Even if we’re alone, it is still nice to just sit or stand still, do nothing and just observe what’s going on around us.
We might just discover ‘present’.
5. Stop putting it off
As the sun gets closer to disappearing, all the animals know their routine. Some get behind a shelter to protect themselves from the night predators, while some are awake as soon as the darkness comes.
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditation
What’s our role in nature?
The day has gone past, what have we done today to fulfil our duty?
Or did we put it off again? When we do, are we sure that tomorrow will be here?
Unlike animals, humans are gifted with the conscious mind that allows us to think about the past, present and future. We can put our day up for a review and plan for tomorrow, but how often do we actually do that? How often do we let the day dictate how we spend our life and what we do?
To procrastinate is to be arrogant of our time. The Stoics like to think that we’re living on a borrowed time, as if we were given a second chance at life so we appreciate it more and use our time wisely.
When the night arrives
As the sun disappeared, the darkness arrives.
It can be daunting at first to not be able to see, but eventually, our human eyes adapt. And as we look up at the sky, we see billions source of tiny lights that we wouldn’t be able to see with the presence of the sun otherwise, some from a galaxy far far away.
The closest star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.24 light-years away, meaning that the light that we see today has left the earth 4.24 years ago (and the light travels at 300,000 km/sec).
Don’t they remind us how ‘insignificant’ we are to the universe? If any problem ever bothers us, just think about how big the galaxy is compared to our personal problems.
And how lucky are we to be a part of this beautiful universe.
