If it’s not all right, it is not yet the end
The sun breaks through and the world seems to wake up from its everlasting sleep. With days growing longer and blue skies overhead people suddenly start coming outside, smiling to each other and enjoying life. When walking along the streets it feels as if the atmosphere has changed, the world feels more vibrant, more alive. There seems to be this promise in the air that things will be fine, things won’t be the same any longer. It seems like the world is ready for change, ready to take you in her arms and ready to carry you along.
In my last blogs I have been talking a lot, but to be fair I haven’t really told you about what is going on in my life, so hereby an update. Things are actually quite straightforward, I have been writing on my thesis, walking, teaching my wonderful students, trying to arrange insurance for my nearly ready motorcycle and running. Last but not least, I also visited the gardens of Ghent University. Some would say it is doing nothing, but I have also been sitting outside, enjoying the sun on my skin, listening to music, making bracelets and making flower crowns. Making flower necklaces, bracelets and crowns is something I remember doing since I was a little child, so doing so brings along many childhood memories. Regardless of all the amazing things I have been doing, I am fixated on getting my thesis finished. It is so close-by, as if I can already feel the joy of handing it in, but at the same time it seems a never ending task. Correction after correction, figures bouncing around and Word driving me completely nuts. Seriously, why is it so totally impossible to fixate figures and tables where they need to be? Haha, well, there you have my vast frustration regarding the thesis. Nevertheless, I am proud. I would never have expected to be able to write such a document in such a short time, but there you go. It seems you are capable of always that little bit more than you expect. Isn’t that great to know? Even if it feels impossible, never-ending or hopeless, rationally you can try to remind yourself that things will always be okay in one way or another. This matches with one of my favourite quotes from ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’:
“Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it is not yet the end”
Thinking of this film, I must tell you, it is an amazing film that will surely leave you with a smile on your face and full of energy to face whatever is waiting for you in your life. Full of English humour and Indian colourfulness it tells its story of being old, love, and cultural differences. In some way it reminds me that you are never alone, but maybe that is just because of the happiness I feel after seeing that movie. Anyway, it is true, you are never really alone, somewhere there is always somebody who cares about you and thinks of you. Maybe somebody of whom you don’t realize that they care or maybe somebody you haven’t met yet, but silently they are there, taking care of you and remembering you. Within this digital era full of connection, real connection between people is too often lost and people so often feel isolated and alone. This doesn’t have to be, this should not be. Reach out to each other by sharing a smile, wherever you are, or exchanging some words. These simple acts make you a teeny-tiny part of each other’s life and eventually of each other’s history. Live, dance through life as if nobody is watching, smile without a reason and love as if there is no tomorrow.
