Bridges & Intersections

by Richard Aird (Flickr creative commons)

A lot of things in our lives is beyond our control. For example, we weren’t consulted who our parents are going to be, how our nose would look like (Although, with enough cash, you may eventually have a choice.), how tall or short we are going to be.

However, as we grow old, we learn to understand ourselves and our world, and this allowed us to have some form of control over a number of things. We decide on what degree we’re going to take, whom to marry (in most parts of the world), how much money to spend on a particular expense. We may come to a point when we start to think that this is OUR life.

The answer to whether your life is borrowed or owned dictates different sets of perspectives that drive you.

The difference is like north vs. south, winter vs. summer, sweet vs. sour – they are nothing alike. 

OWNED LIFE

• To take one’s life as owned gives one the power to do everything he wants, to be anything he wants to be.
• The premise of an owned life is that we are a blank sheet of paper when we are born.
• Nurture and nature is the main determinant of how our lives will play out.
• The prime of an owned life comes when he starts living the dreams he had.
• His strengths and weaknesses are like events that with effort and determination will become history in time.
• The end of an owned life is its expiration.
• An owned life ceases to be at that point.

BORROWED LIFE

• To take one’s life as borrowed gives one the privilege of living for a certain time and after that, it has to be returned.
• The premise of a borrowed life is that we came to life with a manual and a blueprint.
• Nurture and nature will play its role in developing his life but the manual and blueprint will prevail.
• The prime of a borrowed life comes when he starts living the purpose he was created for – when he starts fulfilling his manual and his blueprint.
• His strengths and weaknesses are the compass to fulfill his manual and blueprint.
• The end of a borrowed life is a return.
• A borrowed life is accountable at that point.

If life is indeed one or the other, the risks in believing wrong would be:

• If life is truly owned, but you live it as though it is borrowed, the risk lies in missing out. You didn’t pursue endeavors which you believed you weren’t meant for, not part of your blueprint. At its end, you would’ve had expired anyway and who can measure your fulfillment for living out your purpose? It was yours, and yours alone to enjoy in the first place.
• On the other hand, if life is truly borrowed, but you live it as tough it is owned, the risk lies in not being able to account for what you were supposed to do. At its end, you would be accountable, and your decisions would have consequences.

For the past two articles, I’ve written about humility leader – a leader, who is well-equipped to handle his passion. A humility leader draws strength from a borrowed life. He is motivated and driven because he does not know when he has to return his life. On the flip side of the coin, he is motivated and driven because he has to return his life at its end and that he is accountable at that point in time. He may not have all the time in the world, but he has an opportunity to make the most out of what he has.