Life is a struggle… or so we’ve all heard.

It would seem that as life progresses one cannot but look back into the past and think that “those where the days”.

So far, throughout the couple of decades in which I’ve been consuming food, oxygen, time, patience and (lots of) money, I see myself as somebody who’s gained a lot of life experience. I’ve been a part of modern history:

I’ve lived through the transition of one millennium to the next. I was there during all 3 papal visits to our shores. I shared in the horror when the 9/11 attacks and the London bombings happened. I was part of the Maltese population when it entered the European Union. I, unlike the next generation, remember the time when Malta had its own currency – the Lira. I remember a time when I used to buy a kinnie for 18 Maltese cents. I remember when the only person with a mobile phone the size of a loaf of bread was the CEO of Maltacom. I remember when GO was still called Maltacom.

I watched all 4 Karate kid films twice a day during my last year of primary school. I danced, or rather, wiggled; to Scatman John. I collected football stickers and mastered the yo-yo. I ate enough sugar as a child to last me a lifetime. I, well, my parents bought me an 800 lira (1864 euro) computer for my 11^th birthday. It was an AMD because we couldn’t afford a Pentium and hadn’t even heard of a Macintosh. It had a blistering 64 MB of ram and an infinite storage space of 18 GB. The nice people from the shop even gave me a free keyboard with it.

All this nostalgic thinking seems to force me to crack a smile. In fact, the most prominent memories I have in mind are those of happiness and joy, even if in actual fact the five minute episode that I remember was surrounded by hours of boredom or suffering. There are periods in time when life gives you nothing but lemons and there is simply nothing you can do about it. It seems that it’s harder to make a happy memory, even if those are the ones that’ll stick in the long run.

A couple of days ago I met an old friend whom I hadn’t spoken to in ages. He is renowned for constantly being the bubbly one, the kind of person who would smile even if he had just been run over by a runaway lorry. After 10 minutes of reviving memories, I mustered up the courage to ask him how on earth does he manage to always see the bright side of life. With another one of his Colgate-worthy smiles he explained to me that “the world will only become dull if you look at it that way”.

There it was, plain and simple; it’s all about what my philosophy colleges would call perception.

A revaluation of your outlook towards life can prove to be vital in making more memories which you will look back on a few years down the line.

This is a message to all of you about to face your exams and probably feel like the world is resting on your shoulders. Truth is… its not.

Study, work hard, do your best, then see what happens. There’s no use crying over spilt milk. If you still don’t manage to achieve your goal on the third, fourth or twenty-sixth time, well maybe you’re doing something you’re not meant to do in life.

On the other hand, if you are convinced that it is your destiny, then I encourage you to take the bull by the horns and never let go. Either way I think life is all about the journey and not the finish line.

Take some time to slow your world down and enjoy the people and things around you. Before you know it you’ll be huddled up on your rocking chair next to your grandchildren. You’ll be telling them that life was good when you were young, that your cars astonishingly used to work on petrol and that you actually used to carry a mobile phone in your pocket instead of implanting it into your skin. Keep in mind, dear readers, that you’re making history as we speak.

Abraham Lincoln definitely was on to something special when he said, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Have you made up your mind?

BY Ricky Bugeja

Basic Reporting