To live or to survive!

GUEST COLUMN: Dr N Prabhudev

Bengaluru Express
Bengaluru May 30 :Both living and surviving involve the act of staying alive, they differ in their mind set, goals, and approach to life! It requires you to have the guts, courage and faith in yourself! Surviving’ implies a focus on basic necessities and the ability to survive through difficult circumstances. ‘Live’, on the other hand, refers to the state of living life king size and active engagement in life activities, pursuits, and experiences and intellectual aspects of existence. So friends choose life and live and be alive!
Choices and Chances and its consequences- C+C+C is Life
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life- It goes on.
The purpose of life is not merely to be happy! It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate and to make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
Many of us just manage to survive! Dying seems much simpler when death is kinder than life! Pew-research- 76% of people experience significant stress weekly, and burnout is at an all-time high. Many times I’ve been there too. One moment at a time — you’ll find your way back, and it will get better. Always have, always will.
What is Life? Religions have preached about it, philosophers have pondered over it and ordinary mortals have lived through it. But the eternal mystery of Life still eludes us.
Majority just survive each day, for they are too busy, too tired, too stressed and too worried to really enjoy the pleasures of life. Thus, hours become days and days become years and years become a wasted precious life, and what for?
Living is not easy. From the day we are born till the day we die, there is always something missing, always something we are running after, always something that we seek, want, need and desire! Life is what you make of it – that which did not go as planned.
We are here to evolve, adapt, and grow. Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by choice. Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it. The biggest battle we face is within ourselves – a battle against our impulses, temptations, and fears, whims and fancies!
20% of the choices – make for 80% of the results! Small choices have far-reaching consequences!
Make a choice to respect everyone. Be kind to others. Choose to Smile and smile more often! Choose to Speak without saying a word – listen actively as you do it when in love! Every choice you make makes you! Never regret- what once made you smile!
Excellence is a healthy striving to be outstanding! Excellence is about ceaselessly aiming to improve! Not Perfection! Perfectionists see mistakes as failures!
Aim to be better than yesterday. Be better today than you were yesterday! Yesterday, I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
What counts as life is still being defined – Chances and choices make life unpredictable. I believe you cannot change what you refuse to confront. If we don’t make the choices that are ours to make, others will make those choices for us.
Choose to Save Money – Saving a tenth of everything you earn. Save Before You Spend. Be adequately insured.
Choose to Eat Healthy- Eat with heart in mind! Eat bad food — you’ll want to eat more! It is Habit forming! Eat a rain bow – colourful diet! Find food that loves you! Learn to love that food! It’s cheaper to be healthy. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of Cure!
Choose to Exercise every day- do it first thing in the morning – along with two or more day’s muscle-strengthening activities, like resistance training per week!
Don’t smoke! Go moderate on Alcohol!
Life is inherently risky. Always do your best to make the right choice. Learn from the wrong choices. Many people fall into the trap of believing that by doing nothing, they are preserving safety and security. However, choosing to do nothing is, in itself, a risk.
One of the main reasons people hesitate to act is fear—fear of failure, rejection, or the unknown. This fear is understandable. The truth is, failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of the process. Those who never try never fail, but they also never succeed.
The comfort zone is a seductive place – feels safe and predictable – may protect us from immediate discomfort, but it prevents us from realizing our full potential. Yes, not all risks are worth taking. The key is to take calculated risks—those that align with our goals, values, and vision for the future.
Once we make a choice be ready to face the consequences! Freedom of choice bestows the responsibility for the consequences! Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” Even inaction has consequences. Ignorance is bliss- it’s a choice!
Every choice you make has an end result. Every great accomplishment starts with the decision to try. If you failed yesterday, strive to win today. If you were defeated today, strive to win tomorrow. But never let go! The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your choices. In the end, we are the sum of our choices.
Life is a matter of chance. You cannot choose your parents. Parents can choose you or you may be an accident! Your gender – XXY or XY is neither your choice nor your parent’s. It is a chance! To live life to the fullest- well, that is a choice. It is a chance to hit upon the right choice. The Change will fall in place!