Life, “je ne sais qoui” | Teen Ink

Life, “je ne sais qoui”

June 19, 2022
By Lishal-Z SILVER, Dubai, Other
Lishal-Z SILVER, Dubai, Other
9 articles 0 photos 0 comments

“Good evening, this is BBC News. Death tolls spike with full vigour as countries are strained with the weight of the pandemic. The severity of the new variant has proven to be fatal, with thousands of lives claimed by the virus outbreak. Viewers’ discretion advised, this report contains footage that may be distressing and upsetting to the audience.”
 
My body shook with grief, not bearing the weight of sadness and despair among us all. I see an elderly woman, barely cognisable with the ventilator blocking her frail frame. The sight of pale, sterile covers of the hospital bed is one I had become accustomed to see with the advent of the crisis. Nurses and doctors were wearing protective equipment that served as their only armour into the battle field they entered every day. The predicament my world was in was hopeless and there was no way out.
 
The words of the journalist were no more coherent. I couldn’t focus on anything but the poor elderly lady on her death bed. She sighed painfully, as I saw her tears roll down her old, wrinkled cheek. Life was slipping away from her grip and she knew it. It seemed to me that she tried to calm herself before she was finally to be taken by death, with her heart monitor beeping as though it were a lullaby sung by death itself.
 
I switched off the TV in agony and ran to my windowsill, heavily breathing as I stare outside at the crestfallen sight. Not a person outside, everyone was cooped up in their houses, abiding by the government’s law for total lockdown, in efforts to combat the global challenge. Life was empty, cold, selfish, greedy and I saw no hope.
 
Life. What was it? The question posing itself again and again on different occasions. “Je ne sais qoui”, I said in my head, being a French student; “It isn’t easily put in words, almost impossible to describe.” I sighed with anguish, making patterns on the foggy glass when I saw a little boy who lived in the building across me, standing on his balcony, waving out to me. I chuckled at his innocence and stepped outside, waving back at him. “What are you doing?”, he asked me, shouting as loud as his little frame could permit him to. “Looking at the view, and you?”
 
The conversation I had, rather the yelling rapport I had with him kindled a little fire in my heart, thawing the ice that frosted over it with sadness and glum. My next-door neighbour, a retired military personnel, came out to join in on our conversation, so did various families; everyone, out on their balconies, having a conversation as though nothing ever happened. My eyes lit up with elation at the sight of my community restoring the once lost feeling of joy.
 
A little six-year-old boy lived up to life’s greatest challenge and he taught me a valuable lesson I still cherish. To look past barriers, seek for the unknown and being humble. Even life itself helps you along the way. The situations it puts you in, the lessons it teaches you, the people you meet and the rapport you build with one another; these are life lessons that help us shape our perception of life.
 
Yet a common misconception about life is claiming that it is yours to determine, for you to decide or for you to judge. Life has taught me to be loving and compassionate, for it isn’t our place to judge. Be bold and keep faith, when life pushes you down. Dust off your clothes, get up, and move on. Learn from your elders with open eyes and ears, lead your younger ones with humble and caring heart. Use your gifts and talents to pursue the true meaning of life, by serving others.
 
I live by the motto of Service before Self and that is a lesson that I wish to reciprocate to the world around me, to serve and be humble. That is life’s true ambition. It is the people around us who shape our life’s trajectory and to be curators of life, we must serve others just as we would do to ourselves.


The author's comments:

Life. What was it? The question posing itself again and again on different occasions. “Je ne sais qoui”, I said in my head, being a French student; “It isn’t easily put in words, almost impossible to describe.”


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