We are alone

Everybody we love and everything we care about in this world eventually fades away. We can't rely on anything lasting and though we may rely on people we can't expect them to be there indefinitely.

Eventually we have to come to terms with the fact that we entered this world alone and one day we will leave it in the same state. All the worldly possessions we have accumulated, hoarded and treasured, will endure while we will perish. Everything we have worked hard to achieve will wither away and eventually, nothing will remain. Maybe someday down the line someone will Google your name and your Facebook or Twitter page might pop up, but apart from that we will leave nothing that can endure time.

The people we meet may seem important right now. We may give them all our attention and time but there will come a time when they will leave you or you will choose to leave them. The space they occupied within your life will be empty for a while and you will mourn their absence. Give it a week or two and slowly their memory will fade until the empty space just a few millimetres left to your right atrium becomes occupied by some other worry. Just like worldly possessions, we won't be able to take any of the people with us when we leave and so essentially we find ourselves alone.

I'm reminded of a poem I was exposed to in high school – Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The profound words of wisdom contained within its stanzas were of little consequence to me back then. A specific extract in particular always finds itself floating around in my mind. Now, as I reread words I am struck by just how true they are. 

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

I shudder at the thought of how much time we spend trying to accumulate wealth at the expense of our character and our actual being. We forget we will leave this world alone, that all we leave will be forgotten. We forget that what will remain of us is what we leave with our children – what we teach them and how they live out their lives. They are probably the only ones who will remember us when we leave this world. Material objects amassed won't mourn your departure, of that I am sure.

I know that this is a very cynical view. It is actually very morbid and depressing and most likely you are probably feeling quite hopeless. I wish I could ease your mind but I cannot. The fact of the matter is that no one really cares about you but yourself. People will enter your life but how many will remain? How many truly want to be there and how many will fight to be a part of your life despite everything? I doubt there are many, if any.

So while we cling to the materialism of this world to fill the void of companionship or love, no matter what happens we will leave this world as we entered it… alone and possibly crying for how little we achieved and how quickly we will be forgotten.