Making Time
by Samanthi Priyangika Gamage, Sri Lanka
...For my father
A constant stimulation of e- mails, phone calls and 24 hour access to work give us information overload. Our minds become exhausted from the cacophony and the monotony.
Many of us are so overwhelmed or busy throughout that we have little time to step back and evaluate how we’ re really living. We may ignore the headaches or colds or a coughs, or medicate them; but did you ever think about why and how you got it?
Go back in your life not years, just a day.
How many of you had a healthy breakfast?
How many of you had a good 7-8 hour sleep?
How many of you drank enough water, 6-8 glasses?
How many of you cannot bear the heat in Qatar, but remain here since you cannot do anything about it?
Since the day we are born, we tire ourselves and never think of it much until something seriously happens. I remember a section from a book I read recently: ” There are many reasons why babies cry and one of them is sudden separation from the world of pure dreams, where all the things are made of enchantment and where there is no suffering. They dislike the rigorous existence and unfaithful longings.”
I came to Doha in September 2009. I used to speak to my parents every Friday for about an hour or two. One day in November, my mother gave a call and said, “Father is sick and diagnosed with a liver ailment.”
“What? Why suddenly?” My father was healthier than my brothers and never in my memory had a serious illness.
On 15th May 2010, I got a text message around 7:00PM from my cousin sister, “Father passed away, try to come.”
I asked myself why? Why me? there’s nothing I could do.
Father was the eldest of his family with 10 siblings. He had to raise them them all while he was still in his youth. He married at 20 and raised three of us without thinking of himself. Later he devoted his life to his grandchildren. Did he ever think of himself?
When I asked my mother why he didn’t see a doctor. After all, my youngest brother is a doctor! She said, ” He didn’t bother”, and she blamed herself for ignoring signs of the disease. “ He started sleeping during the day time after lunch, which he never did. But we thought he was tired after gardening or other work. He started complaining about the taste of the food, and we all thought that his grumbling because he was growing old.”
A huge plant can collapse in a few days if the roots are damaged, but it shows signs of illness when its leaves start to fall and chang colour.
Our bodies are usually resilient and forgiving. Each day, each week, each month it is put under pressure. The body gives us signs and messages, quiet and subtle reminders. This incredible machine nontheless requires that we listen to it. We may pick up flu, stomach pains and becom bed-ridden for and have to take time from work. If we still ignore these messages the body will stop forgiving, and it will hit us with a chronic disease. It could be hypertension, heart attack, or cancer.
Wellness is not a by-the-book discipline, but a goal for personal health. Take extra care of yourself just like you care for others. It is not selfishness .If my father thought of himself a little, just by taking a tiny little bit of extra care, we wouldn’t have lost him so soon. We cannot totally avoid death but should we rush to it? Relations, friends, colleagues and society will slowly forget us when we depart, but some eyes will brim with tears for the untimely lose.
Think of yourself, think of your loved ones. Spread that message today; tomorrow may be too late.