What Next?

After the goals have been accomplished, the dreams come true and the aspirations realized  there often rises the question, what next? Was it worth the price? If I had to do the whole thing over what would I change?

Life is generous and our lives does not have to be relived in order to make changes but rather all that is needed is to proceed into the future while learning from our past. While our desire is to live a life free from errors, mistakes and regrets the reality is that we have no control over time, events and circumstances. This results in a guarantee that the  stress factors in life by being outside our control along with the realities that life presents us with various options to ensure that we make errors and mistakes. Life is so generous that it presents many options of which only one can be taken and we are always  left wondering, what if? Or uttering the words of regret, if only or asking what next?.

Sometimes we miss the obvious and so it was only very recently that it dawned on me that parents have a responsibility to make childhood such an exhilarating experience that our children actually look forward to becoming parents. Recently a young woman lamented that there was no man who was good enough for her to bear his child so she will not have a child. A couple proclaimed that they were waiting for financial independence before becoming parents because their children must have the best.

We are living in a world of selfishness where individuals become so obsessed with their goals, desires and pursuit  that they become the focus of their lives. Children are seen as things that will disrupt goals, aims and aspirations. AS these are pursued one big question that is often asked is this, what is the purpose of my life? Have I a destiny? After my destiny is accomplished, what next?

We live in a world where telling a woman that she should aspire to become a wife and mother is considered demeaning and being disrespectful. Telling a man to pass on his genes is cause for ridicule and some even see as encouraging promiscuity. The reality of life is that it is the women who are equipped to bear children and children should never be seen as a burden. We shall soon be having an interesting situation if the ambitious and brilliant among the women leave child bearing and rearing to the "unambitious and unlearned" women. The time will come when after wealth, fame  and luxury are amassed then the question rises, what purpose do these serve and also, what next?

Maybe there is some wisdom in some couples not having children because quite often children become products of their environment. It will be impossible for couples to pass on to children values that they do not posses or have learned. This contribute to the irony of present day relationships because many couples enter relationships based on factors determined by computers or based on sex appeal. We try to hide the terrible things about ourselves from a each other with the hope that by the time  of discovery of these terrible traits we would have been too far gone  to back out. we use the excuse that we want the best for our children so we are delaying when the truth is that we want to pursue our selfish motive and children will get in the way. The great thing is that beauty does not reflect values and when two people  come together and each does not want their child to be a replica of themselves, what next?

Wealth and luxury are fantastic commodities but always being exposed to these makes them ordinary to those who are accustomed to having wealth and luxury. Wealth and luxury affords certain standard and expectations but there is a limit to what is conceived by man so when these limits are reached, what next? Life, I believe, observe events and laugh because one man has wealth and  there is nothing for him to do with it except boast of his wealth, another man lives in poverty and desires wealth so as to meet his basic need. If a true assessment is done the wealthy man is often no more happier than the man who lives in poverty. Wealthy people have a longer life expectancy than poor people but the wealthy does not necessarily outlive the poor so, what next?

The future has been presenting some glorious prospects in that it is offering the the same prospects to all that its has been doling out in recent times. These prospects involve what happens in the future especially if we should die because now we face the possibility if we should die on being cremated our ashes may be used to fertilize the soil or left to lay around until by mistake it is thrown out with the garbage. This thought is rather pleasant as we see more and more people go this route and there is no reminder on anything of their ever having been on this earth. This leaves us desiring to find a way to achieve immortality but in the mean while we ask, what next?