Solving the unknowns

(Prerequisite – basic algebra 😛)

Often comes a time when life throws you into a spiral of existential questions. More so when you’re staying alone in a pandemic. Nobody enjoys the trip down the vortex, but you always come back with amazing realisations and mind-boggling theories about life. Here comes one from my account:

Journey of each individual in this life is an intricately designed, ever-evolving mathematical equation in multiple variables. Each of the equation’s variables defines your life’s crucial aspects — career, love, friends, family, etc. — varying with time and individual. Since every individual is unique, each gives a different level of significance to various sectors of life. And hence a different coefficient to each variable. Some might aspire to career more than love; others might choose family over career. All the sectors lead to a common goal — happiness— the constant in the equation. You assign it a number you think you deserve and then balance your life trying to seek it. The measure of happiness comes from within and keeps evolving as one’s life progresses, thus changing the equation every now and then.

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Now that we have established how life equals a complex mathematical problem, let’s try solving it. To anyone with a mathematical background, it will be pretty clear that a single equation with multiple unknowns can’t be solved, let alone an evolving one. What do you do then? That’s what life is all about. Solving the unknowns when there is no written rule or direct approach you can follow.

You try and find others who could help solve your equation by combining their unknowns with yours. Many people intersect your path in life for different reasons, and only a few of them click with you or fit your equation. When they don’t, you either try replacing them with others or change your equation by rebalancing the more important stuff in your life. This doesn’t just apply to individuals in your life. For example, let’s take career; you try switching professions to see if it helps you seek satisfaction. If it does, all goes well. If not, you simply change the coefficient to reduce the amount of joy driven from career.

Important events of your life govern the state of your equation and force you to change it from time to time. However, the ultimate goal is happiness and satisfaction, and how you reach it depends on how you balance your equation of life.

As much as the equation’s unknowns freak me out, they also give me an unexplained thrill. A thrill that may be comes from the fact that nothing is set in life. I can change the equation at any given point in life and look for newer intersections to help me solve my equation and be happy in life. On this positive note, I finally came out of my vortex and decided to only look forward to solving the unknowns.