WINGS OF ICARUS

 I think we are all familiar with the famous mythology of dear Icarus when he tried to be too carefree for the wind was wild and the feathers on his arms were strong but what he forgot was that it was wax that was holding his wings together and when he paid no heed to his father, Daedalus’s advice to not to fly too close to the sun we all know what happened. For those of you who are still wondering –the wax melted and Icarus fell to his untimely demise in front of his father’s eyes.

You would wonder why I am telling you this age old Greek mythological story but this is just to point to that Icarus whom we all let live within ourselves. In today’s sprinting world a person who fails to make a mark is made to feel the worst. He is assured of being a useless burden or a laughable joke among his peers. Gone are the days when just a feeling of satisfaction would be the only blissful venture of the majority. Today if you lag behind even in updating a status on your Facebook page then you are not walking shoulder to shoulder to your closest friend. You are losing out on the front. The light that you commanded a moment ago is making your best friend shine even brighter than you and this is what Icarus wants, to shine and to fly higher and higher and he gets to do so by means of our superficial living standards. Each living moment of almost all “possible” human being (for presently we are just beings, the human part is long lost) of this planet in this present world is spent flying higher and higher not realising the wax of self that is melting away. The self identity, the self respect, the self empowerment. All we see is the inflated ego which pushes us even higher giving false impression rather I shall say a pitiable hope of approval from the masses abandoning the self to itself. A simple promotion to a big business takeover, everything is meant to make you capable enough to fly higher at your own cost. A developed country sets the standard and the developing country tries to achieve it forgetting that they can have their own standards too and make progress within rather than trying to get approved by the outsiders. Everywhere you observe;rather leave everywhere, just observe your own pattern of thoughts when you walk through a busy place and you would see that you are consumed by the materialism of that place including the products and eateries and what people are wearing and what not forgetting that even if you do not eat in those places and even if you are not wearing that suit you still remain yourself but who cares for self. Ever wonder why you feel ugly after reading beauty magazines or health guides? Its the world that calls the shots. So eventually you will squander your hard earned cash to buy that suit or jewellery or car anyhow and my dear Icarus you just soared higher.

Life goes on and we keep on flying higher and higher. Some are unfortunate enough to melt off early and fall to the calling of the fate but for the majority of us the realisation sets in when the old age kicks in. When we feel the wings melting and we begin to see the actual meaning of our lives. When the blinding sun shines in our eyes and we try hard to find the very reason that led us this close. When we try and find the feathers in our arms to make that one last flight. As age increases wisdom increases, but is it always the wisdom that drives us to acquire religion and to get close to God when the end approaches or is it the desperate attempt to find the self which we lost when we decided to pay no heed to the soul and glided even further up. We start getting more possessive about our self as we realise this. Is it the constraint of time that leads us to this place? Why are we more materialistic when young and more spiritualistic when old? Why do we procrastinate over ourselves only?  Why do we have reasons for all the things that go wrong but never have enough motivation to take up the right cause when it is possible? Why do we keep different names or follow different religions when we all try and do the same thing?

Icarus flew to his death without realising what he was flying into and it is not as if he was not warned. Was he merely curious? Was the wind too strong? Was the weather too beautiful and the sea shimmering beneath too tempting? Was he too proud of doing a deed that other men just dreamed of? Or was he too arrogant to listen to a simple advice? Whatever the reason may be we all know where he ended finally. Is world worth enough to put your own self at stake and fly higher just to get noticed once? Why there are so many celebrities but only few role models? If we don’t realise this inner calling that warns us every now and then we should be sure to meet the doom  together as predicted in 2012 (which I’m not sure of) or any other event like a Third World War because  I don’t think us humans need bigger reasons to kill each other. That is how we fly, but what happens in the end when we reach our sun? Will we have enough time to save ourselves and realise that what we were meant to do was to fly longer than higher. All we need  is a life full of joyous and fulfilling experiences rather than the innumerable regrets of losing out on people when we are busy soaring. No religion will be able to satisfy this mammoth of repentance in the future. All that we need to do is to be satisfied with ourselves and work for our own improvement. To all who may interpret this as selfishness may need to rethink.  Self improvement is different from selfishness. Being selfish is at the cost of others but improvement is just for you, by you and it helps others in its course. Life is too short to be lived for or by anyone’s ways. A common directive is needed but it should not mar the very identity that you are born with.

All I can say is

 -Fly longer and fly happier and more so ever fly for self...with others, together.

Regards

MSN