by Aditya Bhatia

American actress Emma Stone said, “What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it’s not. And a lot of the time, it’s what makes you great.”  We humans are so intricately different; we have our own experiences and stories to tell, our own identity that we discover over time, and a unique voice in society. But you know what’s interesting, at the core, we’re all the same. We all face the same problems; we all feel the same emotions and find pleasures in the universal joys of life. We’re all bound by the common threads of human experiences, only internalising them differently.  

Unaware of what it contains, the present makes you apprehensive. What if it’s something dangerous? But then again, what if it’s something you always dreamt of having? You slowly unwrap the gift, each layer producing a new spectrum of emotions that you’ve never felt before. Days pass unwrapping the gift until you finally reach the end, only to see there’s nothing inside. Your floor is now covered with wrapping paper, while you sit perplexed.

Now imagine this gift was life and read that paragraph again.

There’s a strong similarity between them, you can see it, right? The gift of life does not really have anything inside it, it’s the unwrapping process that matters. Everything intangible that humans possess – our identity, emotions, and memories– forms multiple layers of this gift. Each layer conceals a new experience for us to unwrap, allowing us to acknowledge the beauty in our differences and make cherished memories. The experiences that form our personal, social and cultural identity are all nestled within these layers, waiting to take their final shape.

Basketball star Kobe Bryant once said, “The biggest mistake we make in life is thinking we have time.” He was an inspiration to all, and to me especially, since he achieved so much with such little time in this world. When considering all the constituents of being human, I think what matters most is how we make use of the limited time we’ve been given. We are all handed the same gift of life with multiple layers to unwrap. In excitement to discover the contents it carefully conceals; we unexpectedly tear open too many layers far too quickly. There seems to be no end, so we rush to unwrap more, oblivious to the fact that there comes a moment when all the layers have been unwrapped. 

The amount of satisfaction we gain, or lose, in the intricate process of unwrapping therefore lies in the manner we do it. Similarly, some layers in this beautiful gift might turn out to be less pleasant than others. When the going gets tough, pause, take a deep breath, reflect on who you really are, and who you want to be, then resume. 

Wow. Sorry if this turned out to be an overly metaphorical tale. However, it’s disappointing to see that many don’t recognise life as a gift. It is often played with, tossed about, sometimes left in the corner and forgotten. We’re unwrapping the layers nonchalantly, only to kill time when we’re bored. Those who consider the gift a curse, or fail to acknowledge its importance, are often the ones who wind up with regrets and stifled ambitions.

I hope that as you unwrap the gifts you receive during this festive season,  you’ll take a moment to reflect.  Perhaps think about how well you’ve unwrapped the gift of life so far. You might realise that you already have the best present that you could get. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!