Bound by Pride?

     I’ve gradually grown very close to a certain individual here at Southampton University and I’m truly amazed as to how he chooses to live his life day by day.  It took me a while to notice but whenever we talked about any future event, be it a night out or just a casual “see you tomorrow”, he would always add a small and usually neglected word at the end, and that word was “hopefully.” When it finally clicked and I asked him what he meant by it and why he felt obliged to say it each and every time, he responded by telling me that it’s because he honestly does not feel like tomorrow is a certainty, something not to be taken for granted, as if he was grateful each and every day that he woke up and got out of bed still breathing. With this ideology governing his being, he lives every day as if it would be his last, not by resorting to doing crazy or extravagant things (albeit he does insist he wants to skydive without a chute..more commonly known as a fancy suicide...a matter of perspective I guess), but rather by expressing what he feels, when he feels it, and by tackling every situation with honesty; a sort of no regrets policy. ..something which doesn’t sound so strange when put in context; if you thought you were gonna die tomorrow, would you not want to live with no regrets?

     What I wouldn’t give to have the nerve to be able to live my life in the same way, with no time for fear, no time for hesitation, self doubt...perhaps in an ideal world.  A world in which pride and every man’s wonderful ego doesn’t call the shots; restrict us from acting on our emotions; being true to our heart and soul.  That same pride that stops us from showing that we are in fact vulnerable.  The luxury of a seemingly infinite amount of time lets us indulge in this vice. But what if you knew you were living your last days, your last hours, your last minutes? Would your perspective change when you no longer had that wide safety net of time to fall back into? Would you forfeit your pride, your ego and your fear and do what you’ve always truly wanted to do but been too scared to do before? If so, then why do we feel like such behaviour is appropriate only in the extreme case and not in our everyday lives? ...food for thought. 

“The sin of pride may be a small or a great thing in someone's life, and hurt vanity a passing pinprick, or a self-destroying or ever murderous obsession.” - Iris Murdoch

Photo Credit: "Pride" by Meminesis
The original photograph may be found here


I'd also like to link the following photograph:
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannaheartless/4456692878/