THE LIFELESS LIFE (The Diamond We've Ignored For Too Long)

How would I explain this? Lifeless life. Literally, it would mean life without life, and this explanation would sound interestingly ambiguous! But it fits; yet some curious minds would further ask: can there be a life without life in it? And to this question, I would humbly give the answer, 'Yes please, there can be.' Naturally, I would've loved for the argument to end there. But if further questions are curiously asked, this will be my explanation...

I believe that life is anything that gives another thing life; that helps that thing to live. Therefore a lifeless life is a kind of life which has nothing in it that keeps it alive (moving, growing, making progress). By ordinarily extending this fact to this life we live, my conclusion will be: a lifeless life is a life without RISKS. And this opens another gate for thought-provocation. Before I go deeper, I shall define risk (which I call life) as any sort of possible outcome which appears dangerous, and normally is.

My argument is still that: a lifeless life is a life without risks. We naturally think of risk-taking as the act of putting one's life in danger, especially for an event whose outcome is either unknown, or rather known to be negative. And most of us believe that it is bad. A rational human being must never try that. For example, he should not invest his capital into a kind of business he hasn't tried before because it could lead to failure. And it is the absence of the risk-taking spirit that makes our lives lifeless (no movement, no growth, no progress).

You know what will happen to our lives? We would sit down lazy, because we think our adventure could lead to a failure. We would sit down unconcerned, because after all, someone said he is not sure we can succeed. And that, in reality, would blindfold us from opportunities, achievable opportunities! Our lives would not encounter problems, and we wouldn't have any experience at all. Finally we'd end up naive, without any backbones.

I have said in one of my quotes before, that "If you take the risk, you will meet a challenge. The challenge will force you to search for a solution. And when you search for the solution, you will find it. You will sweat though, but you'll gain all the same. It is better that way, than to sit down lazy, and gain nothing." But listen! When you see danger, never mistake it for a risk. Jumping into the sea for your latest iPhone is a danger. Likewise, spending millions of dollars on a woman who isn't your wife (yet) with the hope of winning her heart is a waste, not a risk. Please open your eyes, and use your mind.

So, how do we see RISKS now? As some bad fatal things? No, not at all. Each risk (not danger) is a kind of eye-opener which introduces us to billions of ways to succeed in life. Some people take it and succeed. Others do, and fail. It still does not mean a risk is bad. That fellow who took it and failed is many times better than the one who didn't, and ended up with nothing. A life without risks (those things that keep us struggling and growing) is lifeless. I rest my case now.

ISAAC ESSOUN
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