¡Hola a todos! El tema de hoy es la vida.

During my period of unemployment, I heard so many different opinions and observed so many different people. Some of them were worried about their futures, or more specifically, their jobs. Some people were taking a few days off to rest and recover, while others were simply enjoying every moment of their lives.

I still remember being asked to describe myself in one sentence when I was 18 years old. At that time, I described myself as someone who put a lot of effort into living. But now, I realize that I wasn’t really living. I was surviving.

There is a huge difference between living and surviving. I think it is a privilege to understand this at my age.

When I was younger, I thought that living meant constantly moving forward. Studying hard, getting a good job, becoming successful, earning more money, and achieving one goal after another. As long as I was moving forward, I thought I was doing well.

But at some point, I started to realize something else: In trying so hard to achieve what society considers success and gain recognition from others, was I slowly losing myself? Was I still making decisions based on what I truly wanted, or was I simply following the path that was expected of me?

I began to wonder whether I was losing touch with my own thoughts, interests, and personality while trying to become the kind of person I thought I was supposed to be.

So many people try to be go-getters, including me. I would say that being ambitious and determined is a wonderful trait. It pushes us to improve ourselves and achieve things that once seemed impossible. However, when all of our attention is focused on ambitious goals and the future, we may slowly start to overlook the wonderful things we already have in our lives.

We might tell ourselves that we will relax after getting a better job, travel after saving enough money, spend more time with our families after becoming successful, or finally do what we love when we have more free time. But what if that “later” never comes?

During these months, I have had enough time to think about my core values and gain a deeper understanding of myself. I have started to realize that life is not simply a race toward some distant destination. Sometimes, it is also about noticing where you are right now.

A good meal, a conversation with someone you love, learning a new language, going somewhere you’ve never been before, watching the dusk, or having a quiet afternoon can all be part of a meaningful life. None of these things may look like major achievements on a resume, but they can still be important.

I am not here to teach anyone how to live. I don’t think there is one correct way to live a life, anyway. I am simply sharing my own story and thoughts. Maybe they will resonate with someone who is also trying to figure out what they really want from life.

I also don’t think surviving is something we should be ashamed of. There are times when we have to survive. We have responsibilities, financial pressure, undertainty, and difficult periods that we cannot simply ignore. Sometimes, surviving is exactly what we need to do. But perhaps we should eventually ask ourselves whether we are still surviving when we actually have the opportunity to live.

Life is short, and it goes by faster than we expect. We spend so much time preparing for the future that we sometimes forget that the present is also part of our life.

So, perhaps there is no perfect answer to the question. Just be yourself, because you are one of a kind.