Life is fleeting

Intellectually I have always understood that life is fleeting. After all time is relative is it not? So are the years spent by humans felt to be longer than the days or months of the life of insects as felt by that insect? Maybe since time span that is the life of a bug is its life time and so felt to be long. In comparison maybe we humans think we live longer lives and so can disregard the fact that life is fleeting.

What started this train of thought? Well this morning, since it is a glorious, hot, sunny day, I decided to do my laundry. My laundry room is outside the house, on the side of the back veranda. Understandably I have to keep the room locked and so first thing I have to remember, is to unlock the door. While I was doing that I noticed something dark on the side of the white wall. As I pulled the latch that blob moved and there was a nice big spider. I am not scared of the spiders but I am aware that there are many poisonous ones here. Though it was not as big or as pretty as the last spider that made a huge web outside the kitchen window, it was still fairly big and black.

As I looked, it uncurled its legs and shifted to try and hide in the small groove formed where the wooden plank overlaps the next one. I smiled at it reminded me of an ostrich burying its head in the sand. The added laundry room is pretty flimsy as the walls are just wood planks and when the washing machine goes into the spin cycle the walls vibrate in sympathy. When I returned to hang the washing I found that the spider was on the move. It probably did not like this strange vibration that shook its floor! It moved off the wall and into the large empty plant pot that I have stored at the side with other small pots. I stopped and looked at it, wondering should I put it out at the bottom of the garden? Or into the bushes at the side? If I left it there was it likely to try and get into the house as I do know we have some small ones with mighty long legs running about occasionally. Then I thought why annoy the spider. Just leave it there and keep an eye that the back screen door does not remain open or even ajar? Yes I would leave it alone, thinking I was being good and doing it a good turn.

Little did I know….. some time later I was looking out of the kitchen while getting my breakfast. I saw that different birds were coming up to eat some pieces of bread I had chucked out for them. Then I noticed that one blackbird was coming towards the veranda and I went to see if it needed shooing off from my plants. I stopped at the window as I could not see the bird and wondered where it went. Just then it flies out with something in its beak. As I watched it sat on the grass and dropped what it had in its beak…. Aahhh the spider……… The bird must have good eyesight to locate this spider on the side of a pot on the veranda. I watched while it slowly picked the spider apart and ate it. A large breakfast for the blackbird this morning. In hind sight for the spider’s sake I should have taken it out into the back of the garden into the bushes.

This breakfast of the bird suddenly brought the phrase ‘life is fleeting’ to my mind. I am sure the spider when it came meandering into my veranda had not thought its life was going to end. It was, may be, looking for the next place to make its web and think of catching some food. It might have had some babies waiting for it to bring some food. The day would have started for it as any old sunny hot day which brings out all creatures early in the morning or evening as the day is blazing hot specially in this heatwave. Suddenly, in just a flash the bird hopped in and grabbed it. Wham the life ended. Did its life flash before its eyes? Were there regrets and wishes unfulfilled? Or is that only supposed to be for human being? Does it worry about what will happen to its family? Does it worry about the possessions like us? There are a million things that are likely to come to mind of a human, was it the same for that spider? What is a good turn for one may not be such a good turn for another.

Life is fleeting savour every moment and live as if it’s your last. Whatever does that mean? I think if I lived as if each moment was my last I probably would be unbearable. In fact it would not make for a comfortable living should even one person adopt this attitude and become selfish. However, one needs to remember that life is short and so not to spend it in strife, stress, anger, pain, jealousy and sadness. Live life with positive emotions and stop and smell the roses, dream the dreams, feed your soul, share life with loved ones and laugh. For you never know where the abrupt end will come just like the spider.