The Price We Have To Pay

The Daily Haiku for March 5. The price we have to pay.

Will we be ready,
for the price we have to pay?
Life is compromise.

Life is all about compromises. Most of the important decisions we take during our lifetime are not easy, and come with good and bad consequences. Sometimes, we don't have the privilege of thinking about them, we just take a decision impelled by the circumstances. In my opinion, these big decisions are not really isolated things, but just the natural conclusion of a myriad of small decisions that preceded them.

That does not mean we should not take these decisions. Even if they carry negative consequences. Remember, nothing is completely good or bad except in our eyes, anyway. The difference is how we accept the consequences (both positive and negative) of our decisions.

The problem usually comes with those big decisions that paralyze us, because we are scared of the price we have to pay. Sometimes, we stay in a dreadful standstill because we are afraid of taking action. I think that's because we fall prey to the trap of "permanence", that's it, believing that what we've got now, who we are, the problems we endure, and the happiness we enjoy, are to be taken for granted.

Once you accept that none of that is really permanent (not even "you" as an entity), that all is changing, and that this change is out of your control most of the times, you learn to let go. Life goes on, with a different house, a different life, a different job, a different relationship, or a different you. It is good to remember the past with fondness, but not get stuck by it.

So to wrap it up, we sometimes spend too much time thinking about the consequences of our actions. Everything is change, and our decisions have complex outcomes sometimes, but if we were to be scared of the priece we have to pay for each one of them, we would never be able to take action.