It's a matter of perspectives

Edited 10 Jan 08, 9.03pm

Eternity. How does eternity exist?

Eternity shouldn't just be forever and ever. In fact, eternity exists only when it exists. And only something which surpasses death can be an eternity. A person can't be eternity in body, but that same person can be an eternity in soul and in beliefs.

We are mortals; we die at the drop of the hat sometimes. But we as mortals bring with us precious ideals, notions that although need not be groundbreaking, but are eye-openers for others who may have lost their sense of direction. Take honorable Mother Theresa as an example. A century later, we may not know her, may never have seen her picture or heard her talk; but we may still know that in the past, there had been someone who was so selfless.. and that is what I call eternity. An embodiment.

Of course, it has been brought up to me there's such a thing as false eternity, such as when we take up the task of mindless waiting. However, I beg to differ. When we say "I waited an eternity for you to arrive", it would really seem so to the person in discussion. Have you never felt the impatience and restlessness building whenever you waited for someone? When we task ourselves fully to waiting, we give up the option of doing anything else. In doing that, we devote ourselves to wait, something that we biologically, are not programmed to do so being the curious and simulated beings we are.

This eternity is one of a different kind, one which exists only in our minds and feels more real as our physical aspects are agitated by it. This type of eternity is restricted to one person, because only you will feel irritated during the wait and only you can truly convince yourself that you are going to be irritated. This is merely an eternity that exists to fill up time. Then again, eternities mostly exist in our heads and as it is messing around with our minds, it messes with our motions and feelings.

You may then refer me to my previous sentence of 'eternity surpasses death', where the person in the above view is clearly alive. That's where you misunderstand me. Surpassing death does not mean eternity has to outlive you. It means that eternity cannot be measured by life force, but by the meaning of that eternity, the purpose and the length of time that eternity exists for or sometimes perhaps, the hope and wish for that eternity to be omnipresent.

The next time someone talks to you about eternity, ask yourself... is it really eternity?